Signs
by d'ihshtri
Summary: Who said that Shinigami takes your life for his services? No one. Yondaime learned it the hard way the day Kyuubi attacked. A different turn of events! What if Naruto was raised by Madara?
1. Parentage

Disclaimer-I don't own 'Naruto' or any 'Naruto' characters

The chapter edited by **Kitty Puff  
**

* * *

"Speech"

**"God speech, demon speech"**

_A note, emphasis on the word, or flashback_

* * *

Signs

Prologue: Punishment

The Pain he experienced as the spiritual hand passed through his body was unbearable and the dreadful cold the hand left in its wake was unparalleled. He could not suppress the shudder that forced its way up his spine and he watched in trepidation as the hand moved on to target the body of the child whom he held cradled in his arms. He could only imagine what the owner of that terrible hand was doing to the child's infant soul.

The boy began to cry.

It brought tears to his own eyes. It wasn't the first time he himself had cried that day. It wasn't second time either.

What for? He asked himself. For what did he risk losing everything today? Tonight? Right now…

He supplied the answers to his own questions quickly enough. First there were his subordinates – the people that believed in him and depended on him – , then there was his wife, his beautiful and radiant wife and finally…his son: the newborn.

It would not be long before he lost everything and burdened his son with a curse no child – no _human_ – should ever have to carry. He wanted nothing more than to flee the battlefield and preserve his son from the cruel fate he was going to burden him with…but he wouldn't. Couldn't

For Konoha…

The roar of pain that the demon uttered and the almost celebratory shouts of the people below him brought him back from his moment of self loathing. He held his little boy tighter, closer, more tenderly. His mother would never hold him in her hands and, after what was to come, neither would his father. The boy would never know the loving touch of a parent, or how they would look or what they wanted to say to him. He was going to condemn his own son to a life of loneliness.

It hurt.

He gasped, feeling as though his soul was being squeezed and stretched by the owner of the spiritual hand and he wondered, was his son experiencing the same thing? He hoped not.

Angry, vicious torrents of red chakra spiralled and compressed as the last of the jutsu signs wound around the evil chakra before finally settling within the boy's abdomen. The seal shone brightly for a moment, before fading into nothing.

Up here, with the village at his feet, the man made ready to speak his last words, make his last wish.

"Naruto…" he whispered as more tears crept from his eyes. He paused carefully forming the wisest, kindest and most loving words he could, to deliver his last message. "I am so very sorry…I hope you will forgive me for dying and not being able to be there for you as you grow up… Know that I love you and never planned to leave you alone in this world…You are the most precious thing in this world to me…"

Another shudder passed through him, but this time, it was caused by the icy breath of the death God that lingered behind him. The breath was followed by an otherworldly and cruel laugh.

"**Human, you think that your life is the highest price you can pay for summoning me, a God of Death**?"

He gathered all his will power and forced his head to move, to see better over his shoulder at the speaker. His eyes widened at the sight of the being, as frightening as the demon he had just fought, but with an aura of unreachable, and unimaginable power. Pale, ghostlike skin, wicked teeth, and two horns protruding from the white hair, a skeletal frame beneath the strange floating fabric it wore. With beads held in one hand and a knife in the other…here was an entity to be feared.

"**It isn't so."** The God continued, evoking an ancient and fundamental terror in the man.

What could possibly be any other price? Had he used the seal incorrectly? Performed it wrong? Questions filled the man's mind as he awaited the God's response. Instinctively he pressed the little baby to his chest.

"**You dared to summon a Death God to the realm of the living, and dared to use me to seal a demon into a human child! For that, you will pay with suffering. But rest assured, human, you will not be the only one to suffer. The man behind this attack will not be excused either."**

He slowly turned to face the God fully and he felt his body begin to tremble at the thought of what kind of suffering he could have possibly brought upon himself. He stopped breathing abruptly when sharp, all knowing yellow eyes looked down at the child in his arms. A moment later the hand holding the beads reached for the newborn and took it from the man. He couldn't move and no matter how hard he fought it, his body remained motionless. He wept, knowing that his hold on the baby was nothing against that of the death God.

The baby made a curious noise and raised its tiny hands to deity, neither knowing nor understanding what it was. The man wanted to speak, to argue with the God but no words passed his lips and he realized, that even if he could speak, he would only anger the death God even more.

"**Namikaze Minato,"** the deity began. **"I hereby strip you of your right to parentage. This shall be your punishment for having the audacity to summon one such as myself."** Slowly, its form became transparent, and within a few moments the Death God, along with the child, disappeared.

In silence, and in shock, the Yondaime Hokage stared at the space where they had been.

Feeling that the strange aura above him vanished, Gamabunta hummed and looked up. He had suffered a hefty wound that stretched across his left eye, but in spite of that, having a bit of chakra left, he wanted to stay to make sure that Minato was all right. The small figure of his summoner was hunched and shaken, and his silence worried the toad boss.

"Hey kid, what's up?"

The Shinobi of Konoha shouted joyfully and praised their leader – their hero – glad that the fight was finally over. Their hero had defeated the enemy once again, and that meant that their village would continue to live and thrive. From so far down below they couldn't see the Yondaime's face, so they couldn't see the anguish he expressed.

"Minato…?" asked the toad again.

He received no reply.

* * *

The Death God reappeared above an entirely different village, where a scene, similar to the one in Konoha, was playing itself out. Fires consumed the buildings (or what was left of them) and ninjas who had survived the battle were making it their business to escape the dangerous heat leaving the ruined village behind them. Burnt, maimed, and mutilated corpses littered the street and the vile odour of charred flesh hung heavy in the air.

The God looked down at the newborn in its one hand and with its other touched the baby's stomach. Intricate symbols glowed and answered to the God's calling as his hand guided the seals higher, shifting them to the child's face, and then, along with whisker marks upon his cheeks, the symbols shrank, fixing themselves into the eyes of the child. The large pale hand covered those eyes for a moment, before the God removed his hand. He looked down at his handiwork.

The boy cried in discomfort: first from the sensations the God's meddling evoked and second from the impure air the boy was forced, by necessity, to breathe. The boy continued to cry when the death God vanished after setting him on the ground.

His pitiful cries were impossibly loud in the abandoned village, who's only inhabitants were now the flames of war.

* * *

Nothing had gone according to plan.

Konoha was supposed to be have been considerably weaker without the Sandaime, two anbu squads and a number of jounin who had been visiting a small village on the borders of the Fire and Wind countries.

The entire village had been a trap. His trap.

Officially the people of the Waft village wanted to form an alliance with the Fire country and collaborate with Leaf.

_Un_officially, Uchiha Madara made sure that there were intrigues and traitors among the ranks of the ninja of the waft village. Just enough to ensure that the Sandaime had his work cut out for him for at least five days before the assault began. In addition to that he had prepared the assault on the Leaf village as well, in order to cripple Konoha just a little bit more.

But his plan had gone utterly pear shaped.

Konoha had fought with everything it had and had come out victorious against the beast. Moreover. The Yondaime had evidently discovered a way to seal or destroy the Kyuubi and lived to speak of it.

The outcome frustrated Madara to no end. He found it hard to believe that _once again_ his plans had failed. Especially because of the fact that he was considerably older and more experienced than the fresh-faced brat Namikaze.

And now he was forced to consider what he would do if the fox really had been destroyed. He would have to investigate and find out how Kyuubi was defeated as soon as possible. But before he did that, he required rest. Summoning and controlling the beast had required an extortionate amount of chakra. And when he saw from afar how the fox had, apparently, dwindled into nothing, he'd had to retreat.

And now he was left drained and aggravated. But he wasn't finished yet. He still had to find out if the Sandaime had been successfully killed. He decided to use the last of his chakra reserves to travel through space to meet with his aide.

He appeared in the assigned area on the outskirts of the Waft village and waited. The man was meant to have lead a group of jounin and retired anbu who'd agreed to join in the assault. They believed that without the Sandaime and some of Konoha's better known shinobi, their small village would gain greater political ground and would become more successful. Everyone knew that Leaf was the probably the most powerful village at the moment, but it also meant that smaller villages, like Waft, were up against some tough competition.

He observed the village and noted that a great deal of damage had been done, probably almost as much as in Konoha.

He checked his watch and huffed in annoyance at his aide's tardiness as a frown made its way onto his face.

He gazed dispassionately at the bodies that greeted his sight and discovered that the bloody scene lifted his mood a little. But he was still annoyed at his failure in Leaf. Bored of waiting he decided to travel to the area where the main fight was meant to have taken place and was livid to see that only a few Konoha shinobi could be found dead. His outrage grew when he spotted the corpse of his supporter, pierced with knives. The dead man's eyes were still open, his mouth agape in frozen shock and half of his body was burnt by a fire jutsu.

It appeared that this part of his plan had been a failure too. He didn't know if he should just brush it off or throw a temper tantrum. It was evident that the Sandaime had survived, maybe not unscathed, but had survived nonetheless.

The attack should have worked for the best of this village: given its shinobi fame, feasibility and a future. But it had utterly backfired and Madara wouldn't have been surprised if this fiasco were to escalate into a civil war.

And the thought was beautiful.

He might not have had his revenge on Leaf yet, but he would continue trying. And what better way to unsettle the superpower nation than to surround it with the threat of war itself? He examined the battlefield and it brought a smile back onto his face. The ruins of a once progressing village and the blood of its people surrounded him and he walked through the centre of it all, revelling in the solitude, certain that he wouldn't encounter a single soul. But he was mistaken.

A distant crying piqued his curiosity. Who could have survived and stayed behind in this place? Following the sound to find the source, he came upon a relatively intact house. The flames had mostly died down here and only one wall had been smashed down. Amongst the ash and debris by the road was a small, white bundle.

It was a baby.

Madara tilted his head to one side, surprised that an infant would have been so carelessly left behind. Or maybe, in the panic of the attack it had simply been overlooked. Or more likely still, the family was dead.

The child gradually stopped crying, having sensed, by primal instinct, that another person was nearby. It was a man clad entirely in black. His long hair matched the dark tone of his clothes but the most noticeable feature about him were his eyes - deep, crimson and intimidating.

The man picked the child up and inspected it closely. It was male and uninjured but Madara was puzzled. The child didn't look native to this region. His bright blonde hair and almost purple eyes were testament to that fact. And there was something odd about the little one's eyes. Upon closer inspection, he could see that there was something within them. He couldn't make out what it was exactly but he knew there was an array of dots, or symbols in a spiral shape that intrigued him. The newborn blinked and observed the man without a single trace of alarm, which was amusing.

"You're an interesting one." he mused. The boy blinked again.-"What shall I do with you, I wonder? I find you here alone amid the ashes, like a sign that where there is an end, there will always be a new beginning…"-The child smiled at him in that adorable way that only babies can, and he couldn't help but smile himself. He might have said that he felt blessed if he were the type of person to believe in blessings. He could bet that this boy possessed a bloodline, one he himself has never seen before, so it would be a waste to leave him here. And Madara never wasted anything but time.

"I guess I'll have to take you with me for now, ne, Shirushi?"

* * *

_Shirushi: Sign, omen, seal, symbol or mark._

* * *

Chapter 1: Parentage

When they reached Konoha it was already late afternoon. They were glad that their journey was finally over, but their relief was short-lived. The sight they were greeted by was of a wrecked village..

When the Sandaime laid his eyes upon the sight, he couldn't help but think that someone had spent an extraordinary amount of time and effort to plan out the attacks.

It was clear enough that the scuffle in the Waft village and the fight that had taken place here were connected. He had been suspicious of all the S-rank missions that the Konoha shinobi had been commissioned to complete over the last two months: never before had he witnessed so many high level requests coming in. But then he'd thought to himself that Leaf was widely considered to be the strongest village, so it was only logical that people trusted the shinobi of Konoha more. He became worried when eight of the best anbu in Konoha's ranks died. Still, he had brushed it off thinking that it wasn't first time that talented ninja died while on a dangerous mission.

And then a missive came, from the Waft village on the border of the Fire country, and no one had considered it suspicious that Waft had suddenly wanted to start working with Leaf. No, they had thought that it would be a good opportunity to strengthen Konoha's ranks with the naturally wind affiliated people of Waft. After all, the village was very close to the Wind country, and many of its ninja used wind techniques.

But who would have known that behind the civil and pacifist façade lay the imminent threat of battle, civil war and betrayal?

When the Waft shinobi had started quarrelling amongst themselves, the Leaf ninja hadn't wanted to interfere but that mindset had changed entirely when Hiruzen Sarutobi was assaulted. They had, of course, attempted to settle the matter diplomatically but their efforts were in vain. The spat continued and some of the Waft shinobi declared that they were even prepared to engage the former Hokage in battle. And when they did it became evident that they had received tip offs on his preferred techniques and battle strategies. In the end the controlled battle escalated into a wild and vicious slaughter fest, which razed the village to the ground…

Seeing the state Konoha was in, Sarutobi feared the worst. The first shinobi they encountered was a chuunin who was guarding the, now, nonexistent gates. He looked immensely comforted to see the former leader of the village and his fellow ninja again but his relief was short-lived when he told the latecomers of what had happened

Konoha had come under attack two days ago but not by enemy ninja though. Rather it was the doing of the strongest of the tailed beasts. The Yondaime Hokage had successfully subjugated the beast but hadn't been himself since then.

Having heard this Sarutobi wasted no time in running to the tower that had, miraculously, remained untouched. He wondered what could possibly have happened to change the Yondaime so much after defeating the monster. Quite simply, he didn't know.

And he didn't find out even after he hastily entered the Hokage's office.

All he knew was that Minato looked like he carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders. And it was a weight he could not lift, therefore, he broke beneath it.

The Yondaime Hokage had been the most promising chuunin before the war with Iwa started, and he was a prodigy even among all the other promising shinobi. As a jounin, he was reliable and unstoppable and his beliefs and ninja ways were an inspiration to many. Even at his young age, he deserved the title of the strongest, and Sarutobi had never once regretted bestowing that title onto him. Not once. Not until today.

The young blonde man looked like he had aged ten years. Looking around Sarutobi saw that the office was a royal mess. The floor and desk had been conquered by a multitude of scrolls, books and seals and one shelf by the wall was broken and its contents scattered across the office. The young man himself was sitting at the table; his upper body slumped on it as his lifeless eyes stared ahead. It seemed as if he did not perceive the world around him. The dark shadows beneath his eyes suggested he hadn't slept in quite a while and it looked as though he hadn't changed out of his clothes since the fight – if the rumpled and dirty standard jounin uniform and white cloak were any indication.

But it appeared he didn't care.

His head was on the desk, on top of an unrolled scroll with seals written all over it as he stared at the opposite wall. The Sandaime had been warned that the Hokage was unwilling to let anyone see him, not even the medics worried about his wellbeing.

It was the first time Hiruzen had ever seen his successor like this and it begged the question: What on earth had really happened to make such a mess of a man as competent as Minato?

Obviously, he had fought and destroyed the demon – or sealed it for that matter – so why did he look as if he'd suffered a crippling defeat?

A frown marred his already lined forehead as he wondered about the situation. The old man took gentle steps further into the office and stopped opposite from Minato by the desk.

Willing his voice to sound as soft as possible, he spoke.

"Minato-kun, what happened?"

The man did not react and Sarutobi couldn't help but think that he was like a dead man. Unmoving and unaware.

Sarutobi's frown deepened. He glanced down at the notes, papers and scrolls strewn around; trying to find a hint at what might have taken place during the battle. He did not recognize most of what he saw, and had a sneaking suspicion that Minato had probably made most of them up himself. Some of the one's that he did recognize though could have been derived – he realised with a chill – from an assortment of different Fuuinjutsu and kinjutstu. These jutsus looked highly similar to what was used for the creation of jinchuuriki. He didn't like where this development was leading…

"Minato you need to get your act together…" he continued in a gentle tone. "If not for Konoha, then at least for your family. If you don't show that you're able to lead the village during this difficult period, what will people begin to think?"

"…They may think whatever they want…" The man whispered. Sarutobi glanced at him still not understanding. He still couldn't fathom the reason why Minato acted as though the world had ended. He desperately wanted to ask him what happened, but that would be tactless in this situation, he thought and anyway he heard the door open, so he stayed quiet.

Soundlessly, the student of Minato walked in. Kakashi looked at his sensei with a pain filled gaze, before sighing and motioning for Sarutobi to come with him. The old man nodded with a frown and complied.

They walked out of the office and stopped in the corridor, where a few people lingered, unsure of what to do; Sarutobi could guess that order in the tower had not yet been restored.

"Sandaime-sama, I am afraid there isn't much we can do to help Minato-sensei get through this…"

Hatake Kakashi sounded hopeless and Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at his statement. He didn't wear his mantle any more, but he was still sharp enough to spot the telltale signs of a great but hidden pain in Kakashi's tone.

"Get through what?" he prompted, impatient to find out what on earth had happened.

The single black eye of the jounin narrowed in desolation and he gulped and then looked down to the floor.

"So you haven't heard…"He took a deep breath and spoke quietly. "K-Kushina-san…is dead."

The former Hokage almost felt his heart stop at this revelation. Suddenly the dead look on Minato's face made perfect sense. It no longer seemed surprising that the young man was listless and just about ready to die himself.

"She went into early labour shortly after the Kyuubi attacked. I don't know the specific details…but something went wrong and the doctors couldn't save her." The jounin informed him. The old man sighed solemnly.

"What about the child?" He queried an ominous feeling settling in his stomach. Kakashi looked away, in shame or in sorrow; Hiruzen couldn't tell.

"We don't know." Sarutobi stared at him, the question clear on his face. Kakashi elaborated with reluctance. "Truth is we simply don't know where the child is. As far as we're concerned it's vanished into thin air. But I'm willing to bet that Minato-sensei knows more about the child's disappearance than he's letting on..."

Sarutobi sighed and looked back in the direction of the office.

This was going to be tough. Wrenching young men out of grief-stricken stupors could easily be classified as an A-rank mission, Sarutobi thought to himself. He was certainly going to have his work cut out for him…

* * *

Kiri

The work in the civilian hospital in Kirigakure was quiet. Ninja did not seek healers in this place, knowing that the best medics they could find would be working in a specialised shinobi hospital, where the medics offered first rate healing jutsus and special techniques that guaranteed fast and reliable results. Consequently the medics in the public hospital saw few gravely wounded patients. The doctor's here were unspecialised for the most part since they rarely required the skills necessary to remove poisons or replenish those who suffered from chakra exhaustion or perform transplants or heal severe injuries caused by whatever mess these shinobi got themselves into.

The nurses at this establishment were usually always smiling and very infrequently had to hurry to aid dying patients. In this peaceful little hospital there was no such thing as a war victim or tough training drills and they lived in an illusion of relative peace.

None of the staff at this pleasant place of healing were capable of detecting a genjutsu – let alone break it – and that was why no one noticed the minor genjutsu that kept Madara hidden from their sight as he walked through the corridors scouting out for a suitable candidate.

Madara had spent a good deal of time considering who to employ to look after the infant, having come to the conclusion that he was entirely unsuited for the job – he possessed neither the time, the skills nor the patience to raise and look after a baby. He was a battle hardened man, a lethal shinobi, and ruthless manipulator. He was _not_, however, a childminder. Raising children was not something he was trained to do, and it surely wasn't something he ever planned on doing.

The logical answer to this dilemma was simply to find someone who would do the job for him. But his name and status, as well as various other factors complicated this idea.

To the world he was officially dead. He was a man hated and feared by many and he couldn't simply hire any old babysitter for the boy, because the child was unique, and anyone working with him might begin asking too many questions. Additionally, if anyone knew that it was 'his' baby, it would immediately end up drawing unnecessary attention not to mention put it in unnecessary danger. So the person he was going to pick would have to conform to a certain criteria. It couldn't just be anyone.

It had to be a lonely individual, without any family that would search for them if he or she disappeared. It couldn't be a shinobi, because he wanted to direct the child down a particular shinobi way and it couldn't be someone too cowardly who would want to run away and tell the whole world what he or she had seen. This someone had to be weak both physically and psychologically, so that they couldn't harm the child or themselves and so that he could keep them under his thumbs easily enough. Nor could it be anyone too old, experienced, or clever for the job. But it shouldn't be someone too young, too unqualified or stupid either. It had to be someone with a kind heart and could go about his or her daily life with plenty of common sense and didn't have much to lose by raising a child.

With all this in mind, he walked, unnoticed, to the paediatric wing.

...

"Say aaah."

The woman peered at the tongue and walls of the girl's mouth and nodded with a smile. The child laughed with sparkling eyes when the woman started touching and pressing her neck, stomach and then the girl's spine before pulling out a stethoscope. The girl's mother was standing nearby, waiting to hear the paediatrician's verdict

"Does it hurt if I press here, like this?" she asked kindly.

The girl shook her head.

"How about here?" the girl shook her head again. The woman smiled. "Ok, then you can put your dress back on."

The doctor flicked through the files on her desk while the mother of the girl helped her pull the dress straight. "I always wished that I'd had children of my own, you know. Your girl is so sweet! And also you have nothing to worry about, she's perfectly healthy. But I recommend that you cut down on the dairy products, especially in the mornings; a single glass should suffice and that would solve the problem I think.. Make sure she drinks plenty of water as well."

"Ah, thank you, Aiko-san."

"Come see me in another month or so, and we'll monitor the progress." The woman finished with a smile.

"Of course. Thank you again!" The mother said as her daughter waved back at the paediatrician before stepping out of sight, leaving the woman alone.

The nurse outside the office directed the clients to the exit and silence descended in the woman's office. She looked out the window and considered the state of her life.

She had been in the business of diagnosing and treating children for fifteen years now, but had never successfully started her own family. She was so busy with her job that when it came to her own life, she thought gloomily that she was alone. It didn't help that she had never met a man to fall in love with.

She leaned her head on her hand and observed the street below. Her brown eyes expressed her longing for a family as they tracked the progress of the mother and daughter she had just seen. She knew there were many other women around in the same situation as her. With the last shinobi war and the civil war that currently reigned in Mist, you could consider yourself extremely lucky if you had the opportunity to settle down. And time wasn't waiting for her to get her act together. She was in her thirties, she reminded herself, pushing a lock of black hair behind her ear.

Sometimes she thought about travelling far away from here. The thought wasn't such a surprising one since many people saw that other countries possessed a far greater degree of stability and peace than the Water country did. When the rumours about an upcoming coming revolution reached civilian populace she didn't believe in it, especially when it she heard others say that it was a 'bloodline purge'.

In her mind, from a medical point of view, there was minimal difference between normal men, shinobi and bloodline wielders. So what if the latter possessed some special ability other shinobi did not? Surely it didn't make them any stronger, weaker, better or worse than other people. It was shocking how some people treated those that were in any way different.

Was it fear? Were they alarmed that those gifted people would in some way hurt them or their families? Or perhaps it was envy.

After witnessing these changes in Mist she had promised herself that she would someday run away and settle down somewhere where the shinobi world could not reach her and leave this place in her past and her memories.

Only she didn't. Couldn't.

If she left, who would help these innocent children? Who would listen to their suffering parents and ease their minds ? If she left, whom would they turn to when their children fell ill? Shinobi medics? No. They did not treat civilians, and if they did it was only for an astronomical price. If she left, she would feel as though she had betrayed them. Because she had promised to help.

It hurt her that she denied herself her own peace and happiness, but she would never forgive herself if her absence were the cause for someone else's pain.

A young probationer walked in after knocking softly on the office door and placed the short list of patients the paediatrician would see tomorrow on her desk. She stood up to prepare their files and remind herself about their state.

She couldn't understand why, but as she crossed the room to the cabinet, the world around her turned black...

* * *

Konohagakure

Hiruzen spoke with Kakashi about the details of the night of the attack. Besides the fact that the fox had nearly destroyed half of the village, the Yondaime had summoned Gamabunta and used some special technique. Kakashi couldn't tell Hiruzen any more than that. It meant that he was going to have to speak with the boss toad himself, and for that he needed Jiraiya who could summon him. Either that or Minato could come back to his senses and explain everything that had happened himself; but Hiruzen didn't see that happening anytime soon.

He was absolutely sure that the fox attack and the happenings in the Waft village were connected. The Sandaime was old and had witnessed all three shinobi wars, but he was still in his right mind and his instincts told him that there is no such thing as coincidence.

When he visited the half destroyed hospital, he found out that Kushina had died giving birth to a boy, and her last moments had been filled with grief at the knowledge that her husband planned on sealing the monster in their child. She had no time to give her child any last words before she died, and this knowledge only added to the pain that Minato was in.

The doctors and midwives, who had been there with her that fateful night, claimed that Minato took the child himself. He left to join his shinobi in the fight with the newborn in his arms, but not once did he mention how he planned to fight the beast.

Though, the fact that he took Naruto with him was an answer in and of itself.

Still, there remained the question of where the boy was and none of the witnesses on the battlefield could provide an answer to it. One member of the Hyuuga clan, a branch member, mentioned that he saw their leader with the child when he summoned Gamabunta, but after that all traces of the boy vanished.

Could it be that the sealing process had gone wrong? Or that Minato had created a new technique that required a sacrifice even greater than the one for creating a living prison? No, Minato would never do something like that. He could – and would – create a jinchuuriki if he had to, but he would never kill the boy especially not his son just to defeat the beast.

But, if he had indeed imprisoned the demon in the body of the infant, then where was the child? And why didn't Minato have it with him after the battle ended? He behaved as if... as if he had lost his child...

Hiruzen squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled tiredly.

He gathered strength in his old bones and walked to find the shinobi working in the message department. He needed to inform Jiraiya of what had happened and ask him to return to Konoha as quickly as possible. Minato needed him, after all Jiraiya was his father figure, and maybe, just maybe the young man would finally get his act together…

* * *

Somewhere in Water Country

When she awoke, she found herself in a room. A room she had never seen before.

She touched her forehead as the slight headache reminded her that she had lost consciousness in the middle of the day. It remained a mystery as to why…

The room she was in contained a simple bed, shelves for clothes and a few other items, a nightstand and a large window. She was still in her own clothes, so it meant she hadn't been touched but she found strange marks on her wrists.

It troubled her and she began to get scared as she wondered where she was and who had brought her here. She certainly wasn't in the hospital anymore; If she had merely fainted she would still be there, but it seemed fairly clear to her now that she had been kidnapped.

The question was, Why?

As she deliberated all the possible reasons, the door to the room opened and a tall, lean man entered. He had the look of a shinobi about him.

He was dressed like one too and she was sure that he had hidden weapons on him. His face was serious and did not betray what he might have been thinking. She noticed that his skin was pale, and his features sharp and that he had spiky black hair, but the most prominent thing about him were his eyes. The moment she saw them she knew that he possessed a bloodline.

"I've brought you here because I have a job for you." He said. She almost flinched but controlled herself. She sensed that beneath his mild tone, lay a dangerous force not to be trifled with. He did not look like a maniac, but she could feel that, without a doubt, if he had wanted to kill her, she'd be dead in no time. What could he possibly want from a weak and lonely woman like her? She wasn't shinobi medic so she didn't even know of their healing arts. She didn't have any information that would be useful to shinobi, nor did she have any connections with anyone important. She herself did not have anything he could possibly be interested in.

"Who are you?" she asked, daring to pose the first question.

"I am the one who has your life in his hands. You will do as I ask you to do. You will not disobey me or try to act rashly. As long as you remain obedient, you will remain alive."

The first sentence the mysterious said almost broke her heart. That man had just taken away her life. He had robbed her of her freedom and free will. Choices were no longer hers to make according to this man. And worst of all, she thought with a hint of hysteria, he would probably kill her when she was done with what he'd wanted from her.

She didn't look like a prisoner but she already felt like one. And the worst thing was she knew that she had no say in the matter. If she went against his wishes, he would simply kill her and find someone else to do what he wanted to be done (at least she assumed that that was what he would do). And then some other person would be burdened with this terrible situation. She couldn't let him use someone else. What if he kidnapped some unlucky girl to do…actually she didn't even know what he wanted her to do. She was simply jumping to conclusions in her panic.

Seeing that she was lost in thought he spoke to get her attention.

"Aiko-san, my name is Madara. I need your services so please stop looking so devastated before you've even heard what I want you to do. Come with me."

He walked out and after a slight hesitation she followed him. She saw a flight of stairs leading downwards which meant that they were in a house at least two storeys high. Looking around she noticed that it looked empty and clean, meaning that whomever it belonged to rarely lived here.

He lead her into a room that could have been a living room.

He gestured to a corner or the room. She followed the direction of the indication and saw, to her immense astonishment, a crib. Her eyes widened upon seeing it. The man, Madara he had said his name was, stopped by it and she saw his hand reach down. She walked closer and saw him stroke a baby's soft fuzz hair.

The tiny child was sleeping peacefully and she wondered if it was his. The baby had bright yellow hair and unblemished skin and it was covered by a blue blanket.

"I neither have time nor the skill to look after a baby. So I want you to take care of the boy to the best of your abilities."

She was more than a little surprised. Here she thought that he was going to kill her after using her in some humiliating way, when in reality he wanted her to do what she did the best – looking after children. But why go so far to get her here? Or why her for that matter? Was the child ill? Or maybe this man was too well known to be seen with a baby or seen in the hospital?

"We're in a secluded region, considerably far away from Mist. You can't leave this place. You will have noticed the seals I placed on your wrists, I trust? They will prevent you from going any farther than two hundred meters from this house. Everything you might need you will find here. I will visit once in a month to see the boy and bring fresh supplies. Do you understand, Aiko-san?"

She swallowed. He didn't just mean taking care of the child as in healing him, but he meant that she was to raise the boy: teach him to walk, to speak, to write. She was going to be staying here for months, years even.

It was as if it was some twisted version of her dreams and desires had become a reality.. She had been taken far, far away from the prospect of war, and brought to a secluded house with an infant that couldn't have been any older than few days…and she was going to rear that child. How could she say no?

She didn't have a choice of course but thinking over it…the situation wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed. It looked like this man was lonely, or didn't really have anyone he could trust with this child. So much so that he had to kidnap a woman and force her to take care of his child in his stead. Was it his? It had to be – even if the child didn't remotely resemble him. Perhaps he took after his mother – if he went so far as to give into the care of another woman.

She felt sad for him.

She looked up Madara and suppressed a gasp at the emotions she saw in his eyes. She almost felt that he could force her heart to stop with the intensity of his gaze; full of superiority, knowledge and power. She was closer now so she could see how unique and frightening his eyes were. He was so silent and calm that she felt humbled and insignificant in his presence.

"Y-yes, M-Madara-sama." she whispered in response to his instructions.

"Good." he nodded. "Do you have any questions?"

She blinked and quickly thought of anything important she had yet to learn. She looked down at the child and realised that there was indeed _one_ important detail she did not know yet.

"Um…What is the boy's name?"

"Shirushi." He answered.

She smiled at the meaningful name.

* * *

When he saw the look in the woman's eyes at the sight of the baby, he knew that he made the right choice. She had love for children, had the heart for it and the patience. Her small frame and warm appearance made her the perfect person for this job. And just as he thought, even though she was scared, she was not stupid enough to refuse or think of running away. He checked her files in the hospital and to his pleasure she had no family, no relatives. She had younger sister, but fortunately, she died in the last war.

She used to work in a different civilian hospital in Mist three years ago, but had received a promotion and been transferred. It was perfect; her colleagues could not get close enough with her in that short time to be too worried about her disappearance. He had nothing to worry about.

The house he placed them in was his own private property. The whole island was, to be precise. But she didn't need to know about that.

He relaxed and landed on the other side of his space travelling technique before entering an office with lights on. Walking over to the window, he saw that it was raining heavily and a grey-blue light filtered in through the glass. Turning around he saw the documents and scrolls he had asked for, on his desk and now had to look at. Madara picked the top one up and began to read in silence, standing with his back to the window.

The door opened and in walked a woman clad in black shinobi clothing. The only other colour on her were from the white arm bracers and white bandages around her calves. Her black hair was coiled in a tight bun pierced with needles. In her hands she held another stack of papers. When she saw him she paused in the doorframe and studied his appearance. The young leader was dry, meaning he hadn't been outside yet he was wearing a black travelling cloak. Her gaze quickly flicked to the white cloak draped over the back of the chair and the hat on the desk.

She looked up and spoke.

"You're back Mizukage-sama."

* * *

_Aiko: means benevolence_

* * *

End of chapter 1


	2. Revelations

The chapter was edited by **Kitty Puff**

"Speech"

_A note, emphasis on the word, or flashback_

Signs

Chapter 2 Revelations

The Hokage library was vast. To call it anything less than that would be to insult the endless number of books that had gathered and found their way into this quiet domain over nearly an entire century. The shelves and cabinets twisted and folded in an almost labyrinthine manner leaving only a central circle clear. This was the library's workspace.

To be in this circle was to be at the heart of an incomprehensible magic. Silent and profound was this place, surrounded by an endless wealth of knowledge that had come from all corners of the world and from every culture imaginable. So many were the books gathered here that no man could read them all in a single lifetime and at the centre of them all was a round table.

It was situated right in the middle of the workplace, big enough to accommodate as many as ten people and, because it was in the centre of the library, it was easy to navigate back to. When Jiraiya reached this place, he found a big drawn version of the Hakke no Fuuin Shiki combined with the Shiki Fuujin. It was an eight trigram style seal, where four symbol seals had been separated. To put it simply, this seal was capable of filtering a demon's chakra and adding it to a person's natural reserves.

He studied the meticulously drawn seal for a minute before he turned his attention to the contract that could summon a Shinigami.

The Yondaime was right- logically the only price one could pay for summing a Death God was a life in return.

But if that was the case, why then hadn't Minato lost his life? What had gone differently from the theorised outcome? Were death God's perhaps not quite the way humans thought they were? Did they desire things other than the life of the summoner in return for their services? What exactly was it that they wanted in return?

It was impossible to say, after all it wasn't every day that someone summoned a God, therefore information on this topic was exceedingly scarce.

Of course, Jiraiya shouldn't have been surprised. After all, how were humans to know what went through the mind of a God or that of a demon, angel or any other spirit that surely dwelt in this world somewhere...

The white haired man scratched his left brow in confusion. What had Minato been thinking when he had signed the deal with the Shinigami? Couldn't he have used some standard demon sealing method instead? Why did he insist on doing everything in his own, heroic, sacrificial way? For all the brains the boy had been blessed with, he could be an astonishingly stupid brat...

Jiraiya was just thankful that Minato hadn't fought against the help of the medics, It had taken a while but at last, he had managed to convince the blonde that his child was probably still alive and the world hadn't ended. Jiraiya suspected that if he hadn't, the man might have committed suicide. He had truly loved that woman and the child…for what little time he had known him.

Though, despite the fact that he had been able to convince Minato that Naruto was still alive, he wasn't so sure of it himself. The only clue he had was a single detail about parentage. The Shinigami had not said that the child would die, but neither did he say that it would live. Regardless, Jiraiya had explained it to Minato in such a way that made the Shinigami's words sound like this parentage had been transferred to someone else now and thanks to this little lie Minato was once again ready to face the world and start searching for his baby.

There was one other aspect of the Shinigami's words that Jiraiya found deeply disturbing. He had mentioned that Minato was not the only one to be punished for his actions. There was this so called 'initiator of the attack' that was to receive this punishment too. The question was who was this person and what reason did they have for their show of aggression? From what Sarutobi had revealed in his musings, it was most likely the same person that was behind the civil war in Waft and the deaths of the few strong Konoha anbu. Sarutobi also, apparently, believed that the attack must have been planned months in advance.

Jiraiya looked back to Minato. The poor boy. He was so young, yet already so broken. He remembered how the blonde man had cried in his arms when he finally found it in himself to let go and express his grief. Perhaps, that was why the Shinigami hadn't taken his life – because it would just be too easy to die. So Minato was given the hard way to live: without his child and wife.

The God of Death would surely not burden himself with a human child so that meant one of two things had happened to the child. Either he had killed it to make sure that Minato would never stand a chance to see his child again, or he abandoned it into the care of someone else, some other human. If this was the case, they would have to look for a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. There couldn't possibly be that many people with features as striking as Minato's.

But something told the ageing man, that they weren't going to find the child. No matter how hard they tried.

They were, after all, dealing with the Shinigami himself.

There is nothing a God does that need make sense to humans.

* * *

"Hush...hush..." She almost sang, in an attempt to calm the boy down. She shook the small bottle with warm milk and pressed the teat to his lips.

"Come on, my child..." She whispered and smiled triumphantly when the boy finally latched onto the teat. She was walking through the kitchen, lightly swaying the child back and forth in her arms.

Aiko had noted that baby was surprisingly calm for the most part. He slept solidly and peacefully, ate everything Aiko gave him without fuss and cried only when he was hungry or decided he wasn't receiving enough attention. Usually babies also cried when they encountered something they didn't like or understand. But Shirushi was impossibly curious and rarely got freaked by anything he stumbled upon.

But Aiko had quickly come to understand that the infant in her care was destined to be very different from any other child she'd met. The first noticeable sign that alerted her to this fact were his eyes. Their purple sheen was simply unnatural. She had thought that this was at least one thing he had in common with his father – unusual eyes.

"I wonder…Do you maybe look more like your mother? She might have been a ninja too..." she mused.

Aiko didn't know anything about the boy's parent's history. All she knew, for now, was that Shirushi didn't have mother to look after him, and that his father wasn't willing to devote his time to children. It troubled her that Madara-sama would neglect his son like this and fretted over the fact that he might come to see him as an object to be used. Maybe his heart had been broken by the death of his beloved, and in order to protect his fragile mentality he became harsh and cold?

She had met plenty of people who tried to build a wall around their broken hearts and knew that they all wound up just hurting themselves in the end. If the same was happening with the boy's father, she wasn't sure if she could fix it if he only ever appeared every once in a while. His work as a shinobi also contributed to this because while he was becoming cruel and cold, there was no one to distract him from the cruelty of life that shinobi witnessed so often. And killing people tended to become easier when one did not possess emotions. And so Aiko decided that she simply had to try and raise the boy in the right way, protecting his innocence.

"Your daddy is so lonely. He must feel crushed every time he looks at you."

She walked to the window and looked out. The house was surrounded by a grassy meadow and further away was the forest line. In her explorations of the mansion Aiko had found a lovely pond behind the building, and a bathhouse to boot! It was like a dream come true to have such a luxurious facility at her disposal.

She glanced up at the sky. It was a sunny day, and she almost felt like she had been reborn. She wondered if this was because she had been given a new purpose in life?

The boy yawned toothlessly, and then began to observe her with a keenness that was unnatural for one so young and yet he did it so innocently that she couldn't help but smile.

"It's a good thing that you have me, Shirushi. Your father will do anything to take his mind off all those painful memories, so he will be working hard, trying to forget about your mother, and as sad as it is, he'll be forgetting about you too. But we won't let him do that, right?"

She headed up the stairs to bring the infant to his room as he yawned again. The boy was ready to take his afternoon nap.

On the day of her arrival Aiko had discovered that the house, was far bigger than she had at first anticipated. The top floor alone had six bedrooms and two bathrooms, while the first floor boasted a kitchen, a dining room, a drawing room, and a study, the sizes of which bordered on the silly. On the ground floor she had found a library and even a dojo, which was connected to a room containing an assortment of shinobi equipment (this room she kept locked for the safety of the insatiably nosy boy).

All in all, the living conditions of this place were more than just a little impressive, so it surprised her when she learned that the lord of the house rarely lived here. He must have been on the move a lot, and his work forced him to spend most of his time away from here. But that was a given though, he was a ninja after all.

But Aiko maintained the opinion that it would be for the best if he could find more time to spend with his son. If only Madara-sama would remember that this child would eventually need a father figure.

She smiled a knowingly thinking that all men wanted to settle down and start a family, sooner or later, and all men no matter how hard they tried to deny it, loved children, especially their own. Madara-sama simply needed time, she thought, as she laid the sleeping boy gently in his crib.

* * *

His footsteps were heavy as he made his way to the opening that led outside where the sun was presently shining brightly. He was in no particular hurry. But there was one very important thing he still had on his to-do list.

He walked along the decoration of the building – which appeared to be a tongue – high above the ground, above the city, above human kind. He was closer to the sky than the earth. The sky that could hear him, his thoughts, his intents…

Today was the day.

Two years ago, he had taken an enormous step closer to his own dream. Two years ago, he had also taken a step closer to _his_ dream too.

I hate this pathetic village with its never-ending rain. I will make it stop one day, so that this village, this little child will stop crying…I will become the God of this world, and cease its endless conflict…

He had become a God. A God in his people's eyes, a God in his own eyes. He could finally control the skies. But today, he could not let the sun shine brightly on this settlement as it wanted to. Today this place had to weep.

He raised his arms and looked up. His eyes did not reflect the clouds in the sky; his face was not that of a deity. The face appeared sad, calm, knowing and tranquil but it was also horrifically pierced with a multitude of black objects. Strands of his spiked orange hair shifted in the wind as, rapidly, everything around him darkened, and the, previously bright sky, was abruptly overshadowed by dark clouds. Soon the first raindrops began their descent to the earth.

Below, infinitesimal people stopped what they were doing and observed the rain. To them it was a sign that their God was in mourning. His pain was almost tangible to them, so they stopped smiling and laughing and became quiet. If their God had a reason to be sad that day, then that meant they had a reason too. If their God couldn't find happiness then how could they?.

He let the water soak through his clothes and to his skin. It made him feel right. This very day, a few years ago, his friend, the person most important to him, died. He had taken it upon himself to continue fighting for his friend's dreams and he was prepared to sacrifice just about everything for it. Even himself.

He felt the presence of another person behind his back. But he didn't need to turn around to know it was her. She was one of the reasons as to why their friend had died. But she was also one of the reasons why he was still alive.

Yahiko had loved her. That was why he had given up his life for her.

He himself needed her and cared for her. That was why he let her stay, even though being with him would put her in an immeasurable amount of danger. But she was stronger now. She could take care of herself.

Every year, on the day that Yahiko died, she refused to speak. Today was no different. She would not utter a word for the rest of the day. It was as if she had made a vow to herself and maybe she had. When she looked at him, she tried to hide what she felt. And he knew what she felt, because he almost felt the same when he looked at himself.

She didn't step into the rain. She stayed beneath the shelter, not joining him in his grief.

It wasn't vanity or discomfort that compelled her to remain out of the deluge-nothing so trite. She blamed herself and she wouldn't allow the rain to wash away her guilt and pain lest she forget what caused it. She didn't deserve the purifying touch of the rain.

They were so different, and yet so alike.

They had grown so strong in these past years and they hadn't abandoned their friend's dream either. Their friend was still with them, and they were determined to show him what they could achieve with their powers.

* * *

It was all about revenge.

Everything in this world is done out of love. Love made people do stupid, beautiful, and horrifying things. Things like revenge.

There was no man out there, closer to him than he had been to his own brother. He was the only one who understood him, was equal to him and shared his views with him. They had been unbeatable. So why was it that he was standing here alone?

It was so very long ago.

He had lost his sight. He had been so powerless that he hadn't even been able walk around the compound without stumbling. In hindsight, he realised that he had relied on his eyes far too much, and that inevitably his sight had betrayed him. But he had his pride – that classic Uchiha pride - that wouldn't allow him to admit that he realized his life as a shinobi was over. He tried to learn to live without it, to fight and see and live without his eyes, but it was in vain. In the end even his own clansmen treated him with pity. As if he was a dead man...

He didn't let it show though. He maintained his dignity, attended meetings and giving his advice where it was needed. He refused to let anyone aid him when he blindly made his way through the maze of corridors that made up the Uchiha clan's compound.

In the end, he chose to die by an enemy's hand. Meeting one's death in a fight was the greatest honour a warrior could receive.

But, apparently, it wasn't meant to be.

When their clan received a mission they couldn't refuse, it was clear that his brother would never fulfil it adequately, even if he had the whole clan to back him. It was well known, that in order to challenge one clan, you had to use another.

The Elders of the clan came to conclusion that it was Madara who was needed on the battlefield. But for him to be even remotely useful, he had to have ability to see.

It was only later that he found out that Izuna had wanted to give him his eyes. That he couldn't bear to see his older brother struggling with the curse and that the reason why he hadn't come to him to speak of it, was that he had known that Madara would simply refuse.

So when the elders ordered Izuna to give one eye to his older brother, he had obeyed implicitly.

They were briefed on the mission together, and planned every move. They gathered the strongest of their men, and put their plans and strategies in motion. The fight on unnamed land lasted for hours, and in the end, it was they who were victorious.

The clan they had been ordered to eliminate had possessed the ability to camouflage themselves in any and every terrain. Of course no matter how good they were at blending in with their surroundings, nothing could help them hide from eyes that could see chakra.

Having successfully completed the mission, Madara felt for, perhaps, the first time in a long time that he was experiencing a new beginning and that things might get better. But, of course, it was not to be. The remainder of the slaughtered clan and their allies wanted revenge for their defeat and came after the Uchiha clan, and fought to avenge their fallen clansmen.

The second battle was a gruesome and dreadful affair as the tired and weakened Uchiha clan were unable to raise their guard again in time.

And it was then, during the second battle, that Madara watched his brother die.

The one person that meant the world to him.

Izuna had always placed others before himself. He had protected and loved his family unconditionally and Madara had one day told him that if he did not think of his own well-being at some point, that he would eventually die thinking of others.

Madara had been right and Izuna died taking a blow that was meant for someone else.

The few of them that remained after that battle were forced into shameful retreat.

That day he swore revenge.

Revenge on the clans of the Water country.

But it had, had to wait while he was drawn into shinobi clan wars, and then, the creation of shinobi village. In a whirlwind of events, facing one betrayal after another, he eventually ceased believing in anything other than his own actions and abilities. Madara felt that anyone he trusted in would surely betray him and become his enemy at one point or another. Even those he worked with and employed were only under illusion that he cared. His last true friend had been Hashirama, and even he was his arch enemy, because he was of the Senju clan.

Sometimes Madara got the impression that the whole world and all its inhabitants were out to get him, and he was stubbornly breaking down all their walls to achieve his victory.

But after obtaining immortality, time became of little consequence to him, and he slowly, carefully took steps, to bring his grand plans to fruition. And when he was officially proclaimed dead, it became even easier to move about undetected, go where he wanted to, do what he wanted to do. No one in their right minds would ever imagine that he still existed. His enemies would never be aware of him. He would hide behind someone else's face, someone's shadow and yet be perfectly free to use their positions, their power and control their actions.

His revenge on Izuna's killers was always there, in the back of his mind, waiting for the right moment to take its place at the front of his thoughts. And when it did, executing his long planned revenge was a piece of cake.

It had truly had been laughably easy to take the Mizukage's place, then to plant the idea for a bloodline purge and finally set the plan in motion. All he'd had to do was tell the ignorant people of Kiri that the bloodline wielders were demons in disguise and were always looking for an opportunity to kill them in their sleep. The idiots ate the lies like they were delectable morsels and all because he had seized the highest position of power.

None of the shinobi questioned the change in their leader's behaviour or actions, that was if they had even noted it. Yagura wasn't the sanest one around after all, and he'd had to bear the burden of the Sanbi. The logic of the people dictated that Yagura-sama would surely know better about demons than they, since he was, after all, the jailer of one.

All of this also helped for him to realize the sheer power that the bijuu possessed. And if memory served correctly, all the bijuu had been divided between shinobi villages in order to maintain a balance of power and as a sign of peace, courtesy of Hashirama. Most of the villages, in the hopes of obtaining a powerful weapon, sealed beasts into humans.

But Madara had a more ambitious plan for the bijuu. He intended to recreate the ten tailed beast from the nine that currently existed. If the historical records were correct, then the sage of six paths himself had been the first jinchuuriki but, unable to fully destroy the ten tailed beasts power, was forced to tear it into pieces. Madara felt giddy just thinking about the power that he would obtain if he successfully formed the ten tails again...

* * *

He held the child in his arms as Aiko placed all the supplies he had brought in their respective places. He wasn't in the least surprised to see her so full of energy, excitement, humour and smiles any more. In the beginning it had been a bit uncomfortable to see her behaving so positively, but he learned to ignore such things. Her love for the boy made her happy, most likely.

He looked down when he felt Shirushi touch his mask. It seemed he liked to study absolutely everything around him and those eyes were always so full of curiosity, as if he was ready to discover everything there was to learn about the world. Madara sincerely hoped that those eyes were worth all the effort he was putting into the boy's growth. He was having to spend time, money and a good portion of his thoughtfulness on the kid. He was no fool, and knew that the bloodline the child seemed to possess shouldn't be necessary for his plans to come to fruition, but it looked to be a powerful one and Madara was never one to pass up a chance to obtain a bit more power.

Using other people in one's plans and relying on them was one thing, but raising someone and teaching them to worship and protect you was entirely different. In the future, when this boy would see him as the most important figure in his life, he wouldn't even have to tell him to do what needed to be done. The boy would simply follow his every order, wish and demand without a thought of resistance. And if he influenced him in the right way, the kid might prove to be very useful. Besides, he would never dare to betray him, unlike so many others...

He could pay for a shinobi to take an order from him, but nothing could quite compare to the devotion of a child to his or her parent figure. After all: parents are gods in the eyes of a child. And that was what he was counting on. But it would still be some time before the boy grew up. Fortunately for Madara though, he wasn't in any hurry, he was an extremely patient person; and he had plenty of time on his hands.

"...mouth almost full; I think he will have all his teeth pretty early, it's proof that he's very healthy. He also repeats words a lot, so I am sure he will learn to speak early too. He's probably going to be a very smart boy."The woman informed him happily, still busy with the task at hand.

"He's already repeating _words_? I thought children only started talking around the age of two." He said, and blinked when the boy repeated 'words'. The pronunciation hadn't been perfect by any means, but it still came as a surprise. He found it almost equally surprising that the boy had detected the emphasis on that particular word. Unconsciously, his right hand caressed blond locks, noting that they were very soft.

"Oh, it all depends on the child. There's no set rule for when or how children start to talk. Sooner or later, they just do."

Madara grunted in reply. It pleased him that the child was already growing and progressing. It appeared he had inherited good genes. But he didn't plan on making too much contact with the boy: at least not until he could hold a decent conversation with him. Madara decided to hazard a guess that the boy came from a family of ninjas and that the ninjas in question possessed a Kekkai Genkai of some form themselves. Perhaps they had been different bloodlines and in combining had formed the one this boy had. Or perhaps the parents had both possessed the same bloodline but theirs were recessive and had only come to show in their progeny.

Very interesting indeed.

Aiko fixed her dress after joining Madara and Shirushi in the drawing room. She stepped closer with a bright smile and slightly touched Madara's shoulder while looking down at the child.

"O-tou-san." She pronounced slowly, expecting the boy to learn how to address his father. He didn't disappoint.

"Oo-t-tou-saan..."The boy tried. Madara was astonished to find that he felt very uncomfortable. He felt as if his responsibilities had multiplied all of a sudden and he didn't like the increased weight of them. Not one bit.

"See, Madara-sama, he's a quick learner. Oh, by the way, I've prepared dinner, will you join us?"

He shook his head and held out the baby to her."No, I won't. I don't have time." She nodded shifting the boy in her arms so that they both felt comfortable."Have you written everything you need in the list?"

"Yes." She replied, saddened by the brusque tone he had taken all of a sudden. Madara ignored her dejection.

"I'll be back in a month with the fresh supplies." He stated and left in the vortex of smoke and fire. She sighed at the lack of progress in his feelings for the boy, but she reasoned that she had lots of time.

* * *

There was no window. And no warmth either.

Only cold stone walls and iron bars.

He often leaned his head on them staring at the wall opposite him. And no matter how he tried to look at it, he felt like a caged animal – no – he _was_ a caged animal.

His wrists, ankles, chest and stomach were adorned by chakra suppression seals, but they really weren't much in comparison with his prison. It was literally decorated with them. They prevented him from being able to utilise his chakra for even the simplest of jutsu. Moreover the seals made him incredibly weak, leached him of his strength and he noticed that with each month he had less energy, slept longer, wasting away. And yet despite that, he continued to dream up brilliant and fantastical escape plans.

But they were all worthless. He was wasting his time. He was never getting out. He was condemned.

It was as if he lived on a deserted island. Not once had he found proof that, somewhere in the world outside his prison, lived other people.

He believed that his prison was underground, so he had no idea what was happening in the outside world. The small bit of space behind the bars led absolutely nowhere, as if this prison had no entrance and no exit.

There was no sunlight.

The only sources of light were a pair of grim torches that were stationed on the other side of the bars, well out of his reach.

The young man with the short light hair sighed and shut his purple eyes as he contemplated his situation. In the beginning he had been confused. He had awaited the day when his captors would use, torture or kill him or whatever else it was that Jinchuuriki kidnappers did. But time had passed and nothing of that sort happened.

It confused him to no end; what could his kidnappers possibly gain by keeping him imprisoned but alive? The only thing that came to mind was that it would lead to an absence of the village leader. But in essence that made no sense since the village would simply pick a new leader and keeping him alive wasn't exactly a pre-requisite for that. So why keep him alive at all?

He wished that he could at least speak to his demon. But even that small ability had been taken from him by yet another set of unknown seals. He was powerless and nearing his wits end. But he wouldn't stoop so low as to kill himself, even if he was sick and tired with the current state of things and his pathetic circumstances.

The worst part was the silence. It was enough to drive anyone insane – though he suspected that he may have already crossed that line for some time now.

The silence along with the loneliness and hopelessness were slowly turning him numb.

He dejectedly sat on the futon and waited, because waiting was all that was left for him to do.

He didn't know – or indeed, no longer cared – how long he had been sitting motionlessly when a hideous figure emerged from the wall on the other side of the bars. He had long since gotten used to its strange appearance. With its green hair, yellow eyes, and two oppositely coloured halves of its body and its bizarre and ugly Venus fly-trap...

Yagura could not bring himself to believe that this...thing...was human. Even if it did possess some human features.

It was always the same; the thing would bring him some food, observe his appearance, maybe throw a comment or two (usually offending in its nature) and then leave. He was yet to learn what his name was, and who was behind his incarceration.

He had already considered that someone maybe planned to extract the demon from him. For what purpose he could not say but perhaps his extended stay was a result of a lack of knowledge on how to extract the demon and seal it within something else. At any rate, this someone had better get to fulfilling those plans soon, because he was quickly getting tired of his unpleasant situation.

The green haired figure silently pushed the food through the bars. The wide black cloak it wore failed to disguise its unpleasant appearance.

Yagura did not stand up. He continued to sit there and only briefly glanced at the food given to him. He barely even had the strength to feel annoyed any more even though he was being treated like a dog; with access to water in the corner of the room, and the food on the floor.

He let his tired glare land on the plant thing.

"You appear to be in a bad mood today, Mizukage-sama."The thing spoke. It was mocking him and he wished he could just squeeze the life out of it.

A moment later the air by the strange figure started to change and shift. It became a swirl and quickly took the shape of a man.

The prisoner narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. For all the time he spent in this prison, ugly plant-man here had been the only living being to grace him with its presence. This was someone totally new to him.

The newcomers face was hidden in the shadowy of strands of his hair, so he couldn't determine what he looked like, but his red eyes were piercingly clear in the darkness, as they observed him in a frighteningly calculating way.

He felt a shiver go up his spine and wondered how it was that someone could cause him to feel such fear with only a single look. It had to be someone powerful obviously.

Perhaps this was the person responsible for his disappearance, perhaps he was even his attacker?

They stared at each other, thinking, observing and judging. There was no doubt in Yagura's mind that this person knew who he was, He could only wish that he could say the same for the strangers in front of him. Upon closer inspection of the stranger he came to the conclusion that he might be dealing with an Uchiha. The man was clearly using a doujutsu and he could only think of one where the eye's turned red.

While he studied the three tailed demon's jinchuuriki, Madara noted that he had lost some weight and possibly the will to live. Even though Yagura glared at him with the eyes of an irritated and tired man, he could see depression behind it. For the most part, that was good. It meant he wasn't a threat and would not run away (not that he could anyway). But there was always a possibility that if kept here for too long, he would snap and try to kill himself.

That of course was a significant problem, since his death would kill the beast also. If it got to that stage he would have to consider further restraints.

"He's unresponsive." The yellow eyed creature spoke, commenting on the prisoner's behaviour. "But he's quiet, doesn't cause trouble and seems to be fairly patient."

"I see." Madara murmured. "That's good."

"Have you decided what you're going to do with him?"

"Of course. But the plan has not progressed that far yet." The man mysteriously replied. The creature nodded its understanding.

"By the way," It suddenly said. "I have piece of news you might be interested in hearing." The strange thing tilted its head expectantly and the white half smiled.

The man looked at him from the corner of his eye."What news?"

"I was able to confirm those rumours about the Ame village. It has a new leader."

Madara nodded and returned to studying the jinchuuriki.

"It's strange though." It added. "The new leader never appears in public. Rather, he sends some sort of Angel to inform the village of his plans and laws."

The plant-like figure directed a serious look at the man and spoke quieter."From what I've heard, he single-handedly defeated Hanzo, after fighting and rebelling against him for years. Since then, he's become known as a God to Rain shinobi, or, his other name, Pain. Also, he may possess power related to his eyes. I only caught a glimpse, but from what I could see it looked like concentric grey rings around his pupils."

Madara frowned and then turned to his trusted spy with a thoughtful expression."A doujutsu?"

"Possible."

"Very interesting."The man hummed with a calculating glint in his eyes. He actually already had an idea as to what doujutsu could it be, even though it seemed almost too good to be true.

From inside his prison, the jinchuuriki observed the figures in front of him interact as if he didn't even exist anymore. Did they consider him so helpless, so insignificant that it didn't even matter if he heard what they talked about? The thought made him scoff inwardly, but a part of him – a weak and cowardly part of him – quailed at the thought that perhaps they really were as strong as they considered themselves. In their minds he, apparently, didn't stand a so much as a hint of chance of escaping.

He had, of course, tried everything that had come to his mind to escape, but to no avail. Not that it stopped him from trying and cooking up ever more far-fetched and implausible plans. They were fools for underestimating him and he would prove it to them by escaping.

Now if only he could work out how...

* * *

_For those who might forgot, Yagura is the original Yondaime Mizukage, also jinchuuriki of the three tailed beast..._

* * *

**A. N. **I have to add that I ignore the original sealing method Minato used to defeat the Kyuubi. Here both the sealing technique and summoning of Shinigami are separate things.


	3. Conflict

Edited by** Floating On An Akatsuki Cloud**

* * *

Ages:

Shirushi/Naruto- 3 years old, 4 at the end of the chapter

Minato- 27, more or less

Madara- 80, more or less

Kakashi- 18?

Might Guy-18?

* * *

"Speech."

_Emphasis on the word

* * *

_

Chapter 3 Conflict

Konohagakure

"I know it might seem like it doesn't change a lot, but considering relations between Lightning and Fire countries after the third great shinobi war, it says something about our dreams of peaceful future." Spoke the older male stroking his beard. His silver hairs stood out in comparison to his dark, tan skin. He spoke kindly, with authority, managing to still look humble at the same time. His age did not take away his bearing, confidence or invisible cloak of power that surrounded him, reminding everyone around that he used to be a fearsome shinobi once. Even though, he was clothed like representative, a councillor, in expensive robes, and jewellery.

He discretely observed behaviour of his companion by the table. Young man, before his thirties, calmly drank tea, that was presented to them, not paying attention to his surroundings, or it only seemed that way. He had barely spoken since the start of this meeting and made an impression that he was not really interested in anything his guest could offer.

"Why is it that so suddenly, without any warning or events prior, Kumo knocks on our gates?"

Hearing the eerie calm tone of the young Kage, the silver haired man looked closer to search for any other emotion on his face than tranquillity. Feeling the inspecting gaze on him, the blond man brought his startlingly blue eyes up from the cup in his hands, daring the visitor to lie.

Minato smiled and gracefully put the cup down. His left hand then reached across the table, to pull few of the papers closer. He graced them with a look that said he understood their meaning and then he smirked, almost coldly, which had to be the glimpse of his true feelings and expression, and continued.

"Peace offering... and what timing; just when situation with Iwa is unstable, and we are threatened with a beginning of a new war, Kumo," Here his tone turned sarcastic, "being a generous and noble friend of ours for years, reached out with its hand, a hand, in which are lying techniques, secrets from other villages, and what's the most promising, the soldiers we would need if a battle with Iwa ever began."

The older man, not seeming disturbed in the least, replied seriously. "Isn't it an opportunity."

"For you, or for us...?"

The face of Yondaime turned cold, and he stood from his chair, directing his cold gaze on Kumo ambassador.

"You might try to hide your speculations behind requests of techniques, bloodline wielders and secrets in return, but it did little good." With frown marring his face, and narrowing eyes adding the effect to his angered posture, he whispered with finality. "I am not sure yet what is behind it, but trust me, the game you play is not one I am new to. Reconsider your actions and intentions, before it is too late."

With that, he left the room in silence, letting the ambassador follow his movements, concealed by the Hokage mantle, with grey eyes. They spoke all morning, negotiating, comparing and definitely lying. But after this last talk all of it seemed to be pointless in the end, as if all of this was to stall time, but for what? He was so careful, perceptive and wary... why hasn't he found what was it about? Or maybe it was only his imagination. Unfortunately it wasn't a first time he overestimated something or someone, but he had no regrets. His position demanded that he made only right decisions, and if for that, he had to... offend some individuals, then so be it. No more mistakes...

* * *

They stayed motionless, crouching on the roof of the low building in the centre of the village. They watched their potential targets eat in the restaurant. It was easy to observe, windows were not covered and glass was transparent, where windows were closed. There were only few places with so little privacy in Konoha, so that choice of a place to eat and have potentially politically important conversation was almost baffling.

He and his... partner were assigned to follow and observe the Kumo ambassador and his bodyguards while they were inside the village walls. Maybe he was exaggerating but their willingness to show they could be trusted was confusing. He didn't even have to hide while working, it was _that _boring. No challenge whatsoever.

So what if that old cranky man preferred vegetables over meat and fish?

He sighed in misery.

Oh, how much he'd give just to have his beloved book in his hands and read and reread word after word of that stuff... He was sure his eye was suffering in the book's absence.

But no, Yondaime-sama decided that if he had that treasure in his possession while performing missions he deserved to be demoted to genin. _Genin._ He was very detailed when he explained what he meant about not having said book in his hands. It meant no reading using legs and toes, or using some crazy chakra manipulation to keep the book before his eye (other eye too) and skilfully turning its pages... No tricks. His precious was to be beyond his reach.

He sighed.

"Why do you suddenly sound so sad, Kakashi? Cheer up my dear friend!"

He sighed again.

"Yosh, I know what will help you brighten up your youthful flames! We can't leave our assignment, but we can still do some exercises! Sit-ups and balancing on our thumbs above the ground! The one who lasts the longest is the winner!"

He sighed again, this time inwardly, and did all in his power to ignore his... partner.

God knows it was torture.

He had this weird feeling it wasn't coincidental that he was often paired with this monster of the man. Sometimes he was almost sure the one behind it was Minato-sensei. He _did_ say that he was too gloomy before. And he said that he wanted to cheer him up. He replied that Minato-sensei was the one who needed it, then. But Hokage dismissed his advice, opting to care more about his subordinates instead. Eventually he got over his grief – at least, visibly - and continued working, but he knew the man for too long to not see how much he suffered each day, giving himself to his village. He became harsh and colder over time, refusing to live for himself. But what could he do to help? Ask Maito Gai to help his sensei? It would be a bad idea, considering Kakashi's own reactions to the man.

He glanced to the side and was horrified to see Gai perform that 'exercise' he screamed about just a minute ago. Feet up, he kept himself on the roof by 'standing' on his left thumb. His body was slightly swinging and his thumb was definitely _white_ but this eccentric jounin was widely smiling, showing off his blindingly white teeth that... oh God... _glinted_ in unnatural way? It took all of his will power not to freak out there and then. And even though he was slowly getting used to these quirks of his, it surely wasn't something he would ever wish to observe willingly.

No one was _ever_ going to think they were assigned to keep an eye on Cloud representatives if they were looked upon. And even if someone ever said that aloud, no one was going to believe that.

He tore his poor eye away from display of oddity.

One day, when he had a proof it was Minato-sensei's idea the man was going to pay.

"I am surprised with your dependability, Kakashi! You give all of your attention to our target! That is a true shinobi HIP attitude!"

"I simply am careful and conscious of our mission Gai, there is little chance Kumo will ever do something foolish inside our walls. It is in their best interest to appear trustworthy, profitable and...harmless."

The green and orange wearing man actually managed to jump on his thumb before letting his feet touch the surface of the roof again, and Kakashi inwardly cringed at the thought of sparring with that thing.

"Now, how about having a spar while we observe these men? I will give it my all, Kakashi, I promise!"

He felt his stomach turn in protest and decided to completely ignore the green stain in his vision.

"You said somethin'?"

"Yosh, your HIP attitude is brighter than my flames, so when our replacement comes, we shall compare our fires of... YOUTH!"

_My God_, thought Kakashi, _did I hear it right? He's getting weirder and creepier with each passing second!

* * *

_

Somewhere in Water Country

He ran as quickly as he could, panting and sweating. The slight breeze did not cool his body as he entered the garden by the house. Sun rays lightened his bright blond hairs as he shook his head and stooped at the doorway to take off small shoes. His clothes were wet as his skin and he breathed heavily when he entered. Upon seeing him, Aiko gave a wide smile and quickly stepped closer, immediately starting taking off his t-shirt.

"Come on, Shirushi-chan, change into fresh clothes!" She whispered and he looked up a bit confused. She laughed somewhat at his expression and made a motion with her head in the direction of the study to the right from them. His eyes widened in realization and he quickly ran to his room upstairs, taking off his dirty clothes on the way. He was back in mere minutes in a white shirt and brown shorts, before running to the office no one usually entered. It was filled with shelves holding books, scrolls and other papers, meaning that most of this stuff belonged to the person who worked with it by the desk that was by the wall, waiting for its master. Just by the door though, the boy slowed down and almost hesitantly knocked. There was heard a low voiced 'yes' and he pushed the door open with a grin.

"Dad!"

The man by the desk looked up in time to see the small ball of energy he already expected rush to his side and grab his knee.

"You're finally home!"

"Ah, good to see you too, Shirushi. How was your training?" The man asked, slowly putting away some papers and giving his attention to the boy.

"Well, this morning after reading history lessons, Aiko-chan let me read about ninja history and even chakra! I can't wait to start practice! And I've done twenty laps today, more than yesterday, so I guess it's progress!"

"That's great." The man said. He almost couldn't believe that this child used to be an infant in his arms not too long ago. He was growing so fast that from the moment he called him daddy to this day he felt like only days have passed. Uncomfortable, strangely warming, long days.

"I want to be ninja one day, like you, and like mom..." The boy mumbled the last part. The man looked away, not sure how to react to the new turn in the conversation. He knew that there was nothing he could say about boy's parents, his true parents, but he couldn't just lie about it too, coming up with an incredulous story on how Shirushi came to life. Half of this job Aiko has already done. And the fact that he did not plan to reveal that he wasn't his biological father was beside the point. He shouldn't know that, either.

"You... never speak of her, so I asked Aiko." The boy muttered.

He didn't want that topic to stay in the boy's mind. It was counterproductive. It caused him to ask unnecessary questions. Questions he had no answers to. It would be better if the kid kept all of his attention on him. He sighed and gently picked him up and placed on his lap. The boy was still very small and Madara had a feeling he would never get completely used to being this close to children. He was relieved to remind himself Shirushi was an exception.

"Shirushi, your mom... is not something I want to speak of, you know? I just can't."

Small fingers fiddled with the fabric of white t-shirt in a show of nervousness, and the man was surprised to see the boy avoid meeting his eyes. There had to be a reason for such a change in behaviour, he was ready to inquire what it was but held it in, noticing that the blond was ready to let some words out. It was slightly above the whisper but he caught a note of confusion and shame.

"I asked Aiko-chan if I could call her kaa-chan." The boy gulped and made a pause. "She refused."

The man blinked and if it wasn't for years of perfect self control he would have flinched. That certainly was unexpected. Not the fact that this woman refused, but the act of devotion and love of this boy for that woman. She was so close and important to him that he viewed her as his mother. Though on second thought, it was understandable. She was always there, closer than he, his so called father, was. She was the boy's life, and he was his dream. Unreachable father that was always busy with missions. Without a doubt that woman was telling the kid stories about ninja, heroes, saving innocent helpless people and other _stupid_ things that had impact on children's psyche. The boy would soon be asking for jutsus and declare himself future saviour of whatever or whoever.

He had to work on that...

"When I asked her why... she... lied to me."

He heard the continuation of the boy's little confession. It caught his attention, because it was not what he was expecting to hear. What made him think she would lie to him? Did he even understand the definition of lie at this age? Kids weren't supposed to see the difference between lies or truths spoken by adults. To confirm or refute his conjectures, he decided to hear the end of this story.

"How exactly did she lie to you?" His voice was gentle, inquiring, something that happened rarely.

The blonde child glanced at him for a moment before averting his gaze. "She said she couldn't let that happen... she said she knew her, and it wouldn't be right... but I know that she lied. She didn't know her."

"What did she say... about your... mother."

He observed as the boy turned sad and there was longing in his eyes, like he missed the person he hasn't met.

"She said, that I look like her a lot. And that... she wanted me to grow to be righteous and honourable."

Madara sighed inwardly, he knew it would come to this one day, but not that it would come so early. This woman had too much influence on the choices this boy will make in the future and that meant trouble for his plans. He needed this child to be loyal, resolute, and ready to be cruel. He was not up to raising samurai, clan head or some sort of hero from novels. He would need to speak with this woman about ideals she implanted into _his_ child...

"But I know it wasn't mom who wanted that, it's what Aiko-chan wants. Why would she lie like that? If she didn't know her, then there's no reason to say such things." Here he sounded a bit frustrated and Madara had a feeling there were other things Aiko lied about too. It could be a comment about what his mother was like, or about him and things he _does when he's not present_. It wasn't much, and it wouldn't have any significant meaning if it wasn't for the boy's ability to see though it. This in itself was intriguing...

"I think she wanted to comfort you, and tell you things you wanted to hear. I'll speak with her so that it doesn't happen again, agreed?" The blond nodded, short blonde locks moved with his head and Madara ran his hand through them. "Tell me how could you tell that she lied."

The boy shrugged after a moment and let his eyes roam over surface of the desk, stopping his gaze on opened scrolls and other papers that should not have interested him.

"I don't know... she just looks different when she does that."

"How different?" The man insisted.

"Like... the words she said were not the words she... meant? I don't know... just different."

The man nodded, making a note about this little discovery in the back of his mind for later. The boy picked one of the scrolls and started to read. A moment later on his face was a grimace of discontent, and he pulled his face away from the surface of paper.

"What is that...?"

The man smirked. "Boring work your dad has to do."

The blond looked at the man with sympathy...

* * *

Konoha

Long days of stressful work left its traces under his eyes, causing him to have shadows and wrinkles under them. How unbefitting of a man in his position. But he cared little what people thought looking at him; he was supposed to be strong, not pretty.

His head was ready to fall off his shoulders and his fingers were ready to break. Damn paperwork was killing him. It was already dark outside and most villagers were already sleeping, and he was the sole exception, burying himself in his work.

His shinobi stopped questioning his long night shifts after he made them realize there wasn't anything better for him to do; they didn't want to remind him that his son was not found yet despite squads of trackers and information gathering ninja he kept sending beyond Konoha's walls in his search. So as long as he had no one else to live for, he lived for the Leaf village.

Reports about the peace in Konoha eased his mind a bit and he considered going to bed at his house, and each minute seemed to make this idea seem better. But every time he thought about his house, empty and silent, he had no wish of being there. He felt like he didn't belong and it was practically abandoned by him, as he went there only late night to get some sleep, and never stayed longer than necessary.

He gave a wide yawn, stretching his sore muscles and mused over recent development; Kumo offering a treaty to Konoha.

It didn't even sound right in one sentence.

He still weighed the pros and cons of the thing and it proved to only give him a headache.

He wasn't against it so to speak, but while he saw advantages, he could not help but see drawbacks.

Since the war ended no country or village made a step in direction of peace, no matter how official or unofficial truce between villages was. It was unspoken agreement, one that Kumo was suddenly willing to strengthen or break with their actions.

It was very unsettling.

For some reason he felt trapped and what worse, there was no physical sign of it. It was instinct. One he acquired and improved over the years of being a shinobi. But without even a hint of what caused him to feel that way he was helpless.

He sighed heavily and decided to have some sleep when he heard quick steps sounding through the corridor outside and saw door to his office thrown open. The chuunin he placed in the squad assigned to trail ambassador was sweating and panting, meaning that he was running after fighting, he was tired and low on chakra, and it meant troubling news...

"We have an emergency Hokage-sama, one of Kumo representatives attempted to kidnap the Hyuuga heir!"

...

Before Kumo received news of what transpired in Konoha due to their plan, Minato and the Sandaime formed several scenarios of their answer to that, going from turning this affair into a political issue on a wide scale to making this problem as quiet as possible. With emotions ringing inside of their hearts, not healed yet from wars and losses, the wish of showing how these kinds of actions made them feel they were ready to start a war themselves. Cloud had fallen so low, giving them a clear sign that they did not care about the repercussions.

At first glance, the tactic was meant to be successful. One Kumo jounin left a day beforehand, to deliver a message from the Hokage to the Raikage. His companions were supposed to wait for the response in Konoha. But in reality, the messenger hid in the shadows of the night and came back, to stealthily kidnap the wielder of the Hyuuga bloodline. If he had succeeded, no one would have blamed Kumo, instead looking for a traitor within the village, or outside responsible force. Within that plan was the action other Kumo representatives were going to take; wait for two days within Leaf before proposing to postpone the negotiations, and Konoha would have let them go, busy with internal affair concerning security.

It was well thought out in its simplicity. They took many things into consideration, trackers, patrols, political rules of Leaf, even date of taking this plan into the field. They became the bait themselves for squads, making sure that shinobi were distracted while the main part of their plan would play out without their presence. But in all their carefulness they did not give a thought to Hiashi. And that man was unstoppable when furious.

With the attacker dead, Kumo representatives in confinement, and the message to Raikage on the way, all Minato could think of was thanking Gods for not letting the young Hyuuga be kidnapped. He would have not been able to deal with it. Instead, he had to step carefully and place Cloud in position where they would have no advantages.

And it would have worked if a day later Raikage did not send a message stating that he was not responsible for his subordinate's actions. More so, officially Cloud declared that their ninja were traitors and demanded that they had to be transferred to Lightning Country immediately. Farther, the message stated that jounin killed by Hyuuga clan head was part of the noble family, and they wanted Hiashi's head, otherwise, they would start a war.

...

"In situations like these it is best to keep your cool. You can't let emotions control your actions." Sarutobi spoke, filling his pipe with tobacco. On his face was a deep frown as he reached far into his memories and using his experience, looked for the best solution to these circumstances. His old and tired eyes landed on the restless figure of Yondaime, standing by the window, who debated on whether or not to start a war. "You can't do this." He spoke wisely.

Minato flinched. He felt like the Sandaime read his thoughts and judged every word that passed through his head.

He realized that his rage was very close in allowing Cloud to manipulate him, and it was so hard to fight it... He chanced a glance behind at his predecessor and saw him sitting calmly in a chair, puffing that wooden pipe the smoke of which he grew to like. He looked like he did not care what went on in the world, and did not expect the answers to come. His knowing gaze was filled with thoughts of planning and schemes, and for a moment Minato wondered if there would come a day he looked exactly like this. The view of serenity surrounding Hiruzen calmed his nerves, and he sighed, turning his gaze away.

"You can't start a war each time any other nation makes a move against yours. It's illogical, mindless and pathetic." The old man stated, almost berating village leader like he was a small child. If Minato was reacting to this in any way, he didn't show it. "You have to think of your village first and foremost. Lives of your people are more important than revenge, or even, in some times, respect."

The glass of the office window reflected Minato's jaw tightening ad he grit his teeth in renewed anger.

"You expect me to _bow_ to their demands!" He harshly turned to face the older man, who continued to observe him in same way as minutes before.

Blue eyed man took a deep breath to keep his rage in check, he couldn't let his anger out on his most trusted advisor, and besides, Sarutobi had years and decades of experience, while he was young and easily frustrated. His anger, while cold and unforgiving, was fine in physical battles, but wrong in political ones. Right now he was not fighting armies, but minds and politics... and he always hated politics. He accepted this position and fought for it to change Konoha, not play with its enemies.

Seeing that blond man regained control over himself again, Hiruzen decided it was safe to break the silence.

"I don't. You need to look at it differently. They believe that we are too weak to start the war now, and would give in. All they want is to win in this situation just like we do, but the difference is, we have what they want, and they can't give us a thing we'd need."

"If in some way it is an advantage, then I don't see it yet." Minato muttered under his breath and pushed the button on device connecting him to his secretary, standing over it with thoughtful expression. The secretary answered quickly. "Where is Hiashi, I believe I called for him two hours ago."

"He is still busy handling Hyuuga clan council meeting, sir."

Sandaime shook his head with a sigh and moment later Minato was gone, without a doubt heading to the clan compound.

...

He was hastily walking through the corridors of compound not bothering to notice its inhabitants moving out of his way with bows of respect. He felt anger and frustration over the thought of people that were supposed to speak to him directly, ignoring his position. With a scowl, he pushed the doors to the chamber used for council of this particular clan open.

"What is the meaning of this? Hiashi, we were supposed to discuss this matter, and not act before we came to an agreement!" Shouted Minato while entering the room full of Hyuuga elders, who did not hide their indignation at his presence in their private council room.

"Oh my God..." Yondaime continued, hearing a woman's cry filled with pain, and seeing her on her knees over the body of a man he recognized as one of Hyuuga twins.

He strode in their direction ignoring others and was shocked to find that it was Hizashi, from the branch house. The only way to recognize him was the headband all branch members wore on their foreheads - to cover the seal. He knelt by her and absentmindedly checked the man's pulse. There was none.

"Please let us settle this matter ourselves, Yondaime-sama." Hiashi spoke from above him bitterly, but Minato could not guess if it was because of his presence or of what had transpired here. The picture was disturbing. The woman continued to cry and he barely remembered that it was Hizashi's wife. He noticed that some elders tried to pull her away from the body but she refused to move, letting her wails out into the cold chest of her beloved. He felt suddenly very empty and maybe it was because on some level he knew what she felt. The loss he felt when his wife left him tore his soul apart, and when after Naruto's disappearance he realized he was all alone, he didn't want to live. He never agreed with Jiraiya when the man hinted that Minato wanted to commit suicide, but the thought crossed his mind more than once, unfortunately. He forced himself to believe over years that he had much to live for, and it kept him here, among the living. If... no one was going to show her...

In the room filled with murmurs and whispers he caught a soft gasp, and directed his empty gaze in direction of doors he so brashly threw open, only to see a child in white clothes that was not supposed to be there.

Realizing that he was caught, the pale eyed child quickly made a step back with fear, and then disappeared in the corridor.

Not knowing where his energy came from, he just as quickly stood and followed him, not wanting him to be left alone with the memories of the scene he just seen. And he knew it was a bad experience, because he saw those pale orbs wetting with coming tears. Children should not see these things in such a young age, and it was his fault that it happened.

He was fast for his age, that was for sure, but in his stress, he stumbled few times, letting Minato grab him easily. He squirmed in his hold for some time but eventually gave in. Minato noted that it _was _a boy, if somewhat girly in his appearance, but he knew it was a common trait for the Hyuuga. He was shaking like a leaf in his attempt to stop his crying. All Minato could do was to settle on the corridor floor and share his pain through an embrace. Was it Hizashi's son? He couldn't remember his name.

"Neji!"

Some other member of the clan walked to them and tried to hide his surprise at seeing Hokage on the floor, holding a branch house member. The blond man looked up to acknowledge him.

"Hokage-sama, I apologize..."

"There's no need to." The man spoke and noticed that the boy started, realizing who was trying to comfort him. He smiled sadly and let the boy stand on his feet. The other man quickly pulled the boy with him and bowed, confused about what he saw. Before they were gone little boy lifted his teary gaze at the man who appeared to be the village leader, and thought that he could see on his face understanding, one that was shared between people who lived though similar fates.

* * *

Water Country

It's been a long time since she had a chance to walk among people, hear them and watch life continuing to shine like a flame around her. The feeling of being part of the place had left her, no longer had she felt like she belonged, even though she missed civilization.

Without Shirushi she felt completely alone. He was her life, and she belonged there; where he was.

She would never deny that the boy was her son too.

She raised him. She taught him. She answered his simple questions like why the same words could be written in more than one way; or why sun changed its colour throughout the day; from what the name of their country was, to the question of why they lived alone and away from other people.

Today she had a rare opportunity to spend time in town. By the rays of sun, breaking through white clouds, she could say it was midday, and she still had hours before she met with the boy and his father. Today was, special in some ways for them.

They were out in a village; she was having some free time, on the condition that she would not speak about her... job with villagers, and Shiru was with his father, practicing some ninja abilities, but she wasn't sure. As of late, Madara-sama started to appear more often and teach the boy. It made Shirushi happy. She was a simple civilian, so she didn't understand many things, even those the boy tried to explain to her. To her, it was just magic.

She entered a park and took a deep breath in. The air smelled of life, of cafeterias nearby, where coffee woke customers, it smelled of fruits from the stalls, sold by the vendors, of candies for children that ran away from parents across park, of dogs that happily walked by their owners, of many other things she could not describe. She smiled sadly, knowing that as much as she loved it, she also learned the smell of home; the smell of house where little blond made an impression that at least four other children lived there. Where she was part of family, no matter how strange it seemed.

She had an impression that she was followed, but she was not concerned. If she was, then probably it was to make sure she did not break the rules.

She wouldn't.

...

He was officially bored.

What was so special about seeing people make unnecessary expressions or lies? Maybe these people had a reason for keeping quiet about something; they had a right to that, didn't they?

He pulled the yellow strand of hairs from the front of his face and glanced over his shoulder at the window. It wasn't raining; he could be running around searching village for anything interesting, instead of sitting in this office and watching dad working.

He looked to the side; the man was relaxed, quiet. He kept reading files and scrolls, signing and stamping here and there. He never seemed to get tired of it, though he was visibly bored as much as he himself was. He worked in gloves, black. It seemed strange, but Shiru didn't question it. The man rubbed his left eyelid before sighing and continuing. The boy observed his every move, wondering if he should mention that he knows that father's left eye was different from the right one. It was obvious because it was dimmer, fogged in some way, like it wasn't his at all. He noticed it before, but if it meant 'practicing' this new 'ability' on unknown boring people that visited his dad like today, he would rather not.

There was a knock on the door and with confirmation a ninja entered. It was a man around twenties, with brown hair and green eyes, small beard on his chin, and expressionless face. His clothes were all black, even his bandages on shins and wrists. He had a short sword on his back, but most of his weapons were in pouches on his hips and arms; was it easier to get them from there?

"Are you sure that I shouldn't be seen by these ninja? I don't think they would like for someone to eavesdrop on your conversations." He asked turning to his father. The man smirked which meant he was not going to change it.

He placed Shirushi under an illusion, making him invisible and unheard by anyone beside the two of them. He would listen to the boy when he noticed a lie in someone's speech and try to look for a way to catch it himself, even when he already came to a conclusion it was part of bloodline ability. At times it surprised him how he could miss a well placed word or a tone of the voice, not to mention the skill in hiding emotions and controlling body language that was important for shinobi of high rank.

Shirushi didn't miss a thing. It was like he could read though people as if it was natural. But he knew there was more than that. The boy also loved symbols and kanji. He liked to watch, read and touch them, like he understood some hidden meaning. He didn't speak of it yet, so Madara would have to entice the boy into telling him what he saw. It wasn't easy considering the kid was often mischievous. For him playing games was fun, while Madara had to put up with his riddles... not that he wasn't like that himself...

The man in the office gave his report not knowing that by the desk was sitting not only his leader but a boy too, and the child mentioned every word he said with ill intention.

"And he's hiding something too." The blond finished, leaning with his head on the stack of papers in front of him.

"How can you know that?" The man by the desk raised a brow without taking his eyes away from a jounin he sent on a mission two weeks ago.

The boy grinned. "That's a secret."

Madara glanced at the child and suppressed a slight shiver crawling up his skin. If it wasn't for a fact that he knew the boy, he would've said the kid was intimidating.

Or would turn out to be, in the future.

* * *

Unknown location

From the moment that two-coloured _thing_ appeared, he knew something was different. He knew it wouldn't be like any other day. He couldn't say exactly why he knew there was a difference. He wasn't sure it came with being ninja or jinchuuriki, or just powerful enough to be called Kage.

He always had this skill of noticing things other people ignored.

But that didn't mean it would save his life.

It never meant he would be faster or stronger than others.

It only gave him an edge.

One he needed more than _ever_.

He didn't know what exactly to expect, but whatever was going to come, he was too weak to fight it. It weren't months since he was imprisoned - closed in a cage - but years.

His body was barely responsive, chakra inaccessible and he had lost his reflexes. If he had to fight, he would be successfully beaten by an academy student. He had no emotions at the thought of this now, he passed the point where his weakness made him angry, and instead, he counted his chances of surviving, or running away.

Seeing the plant like figure work with the strange device in its hands, he became a little worried. All his planning was meant to have at least few seconds of freedom. If a short freedom was out of his reach, then death would be better than anything else planned by his captor.

The figure pressed some point on the small, metallic device and threw it through the bars.

It clanged hitting the floor two times. He stood up, absently noticing that the figure disappeared through the floor. It went away from it? The smoke rose from it, and then, he realized it was gas. They wanted to put him to sleep. Was it to move him to some other place?

He barely had time to think as it forced him to lose focus, and then he was unable to do anything but fall and lose his grip on consciousness.

Thoughtless and colourless, emptiness of his mind slowly filled with image. He was lying on the ground; under the light coming from the creature he took power from in his hardest battles. The monster was above him, green in colour of its appearance, and its chakra. Strangely, it wasn't as menacing as before. He felt its understanding, and wisdom. He even felt its care, no matter how small it was. Its power was hitting him through his being and he knew that while he fell, and had no power to stand, it always was, and always will be unbeaten.

With feeling of accomplishment, he gave the demon a smile, and his right hand reached up.

He wasn't in the cell any longer, surrounded by those seals.

While his body was trapped, his _mind_ was free.

His fingers touched wide, surprisingly soft material over creature's neck. Even though this collar was black in colour, it was light and flexible, like chakra. He had no hesitation grabbing it, and pulling with all his might, willing to break the curse both of them bore.

It tore and finally broke, vanishing through his fingers... Then his vision was filled with blinding light...

* * *

Unknown Country

He only saw the backs of figures as they walked down the street through the small town. It was a family. They smiled and spoke to each other. Their shadows on the ground were long; the sun was close to setting.

He followed them because he still had hope.

There were three of them, mother, father, and a child. It was about four years old. ...Just like he should be by now. It had blond hair and he thought he saw those eyes were blue, but he couldn't be sure.

It was a boy. His parents were blonds too, but he still held onto that small hope.

The woman stopped to speak to another woman, who walked in their direction. They knew each other, it seemed, and commented on their looks. He walked by, trying to seem like he was usual civilian, old white haired man in wooden sandals, and watched their interaction. His gaze travelled down to the child who was held by a father, a merchant, probably.

His heart beat faster with each second as he got closer and closer, and a world seemed to stop when the kid turned his head in his direction.

Just as blond, as small, he looked up at passerby with... green, shiny eyes, and the old man hastily walked away, berating himself for being irrational.

He was slowly going crazy, like his student. Every blond child was his godson, and he was starting to creep people out with his stares.

He mentally gave himself a slap to regain his senses, and cursed under his breath. Shouldn't he give up by now? It's been years, four to be exact, and there was no sign of finding Minato's son. Any normal shinobi would move on with their life. But they were not normal, and the child was special...

* * *

Somewhere in Water Country

Thickness... whiteness of the fog. It was hard to breathe.

Travelling through water was tiring. They had to be quiet, fast and unnoticed. It was hard, since they travelled for days with only short breaks. The weather was on their side, mist was everywhere, and sky was covered in dark clouds.

Once they reached the strange area where fog was thicker than elsewhere, they decided to use it to cover their traces, but finding a land engulfed in illusion of some sorts that hid it from onlookers they had their doubts. On one side, it meant that they were in ninja territory, on the other, that meant they could use it to get away from pursuers that were day or two behind them.

Though risky, their choice was obvious, they decided to use their last strength to enter the land and leave it, pulling their pursuers in the trap, while they were sure to stay away from possible threat. After all, it was all or nothing.

The land was identical to the others, with lots of plant life and water. But they couldn't break the feeling it was strange. Here they were running away from Kiri as bloodline wielders, looking for a shelter for a moment, and they got the whole land under their feet where was no sign of inhabitants. They entered gently and carefully, to keep the genjutsu intact, but would it be likely for them to get out of it just as easily?

Their questions were answered when they found a house. Someone lived or hid there. But they were not interested in this. All they needed was to continue travelling, to enter other country where they could ask for asylum. They stayed in the tree line and among the branches to avoid getting spotted. It helped that they had blue and green robes, making them merge with the trees.

They moved further with intention of crossing the land and did not expect a stone to hit the tree by them. Quick scanning of surroundings explained it with the small boy that was on the ground, observing them with curiosity.

"Who's there?"

Their leader, the oldest man amongst them cursed. They were not supposed to be spotted. How could they be seen by a kid? They made no noise and were too camouflaged to be noticed among the branches. Furthermore, what a child was doing in here? This place had to belong to someone, some family or clan. The boy called out again and the man moved faster than the eye could see, snatching the boy away from there and into the foliage; they were still too close to the building, and they didn't need the kid to announce that someone was there.

"The hell are you doing, we have to get out of here!" One of them whispered harshly, seeing the child squirm in the hold of the man who held a hand over his mouth.

Half of them were wearing masks covering their faces, others were wearing hoods. It helped hide their identity.

"Keep quiet, we can't leave any witnesses. He saw us, so we have to get rid of him." The older man spoke with authority and forcefully turned the kid to face him. The boy struggled against him and looked up with a frown and fear in his features, which they stared at with surprise.

"Damn, he's one of us, what is he doing here? Shouldn't he and any others have ran away by now?" Was a quiet whisper, which clearly belonged to a woman.

Another one landed by them and took a look at the blond. The boy looked closely and saw that this man had big brown eyes and soft, pale skin. His hair and the rest of his body were covered. The man hummed and tilted his head. "It _is_ a bloodline but I've never seen one like that in Mist."

The one holding the kid pulled the blond strands of hair to force the child to look at him; the boy would have hissed in pain if his mouth wasn't covered. "We can sell him. He's young, easy to shape into ninja; any other village would gladly take us in with something resembling the Sharingan or that other eye from Leaf, the Byakugan."

"You can't do this! He's just a kid!" The woman cried in outburst, grabbing the man's shoulder.

"That or we simply kill him." He answered and started to leave. They followed him after slight hesitation but did not go against it.

The boy wriggled in the grasp and managed to bite the man's hand. The leader grunted landing with the kid on the ground.

"Let me go! Ah!"

The other male scowled and tried to knock out the blond but he was stubborn and tried to get away from them, even though he knew it was pointless.

"Shirushi? Shiru!"

They looked in direction of the house and saw a woman in a light white dress run out, she was frightened and it was easy to tell she was with the child. One of hooded shinobi made few quick hand seals and out of the air sharp needles seemingly from ice shot in her direction. She barely dodged, moving aside at the last second with widened eyes.

"What are you doing, we can't leave a trace of being here, don't use clan techniques!" The masked, shorter male shouted and seeing the woman rise threw kunai with a flip of his wrist.

The blond boy stared at her falling body in shock. One moment she was running in attempt to help him, the other... she was descending to the ground dead. The knife was in her chest, exactly where her heart should be. Around it fabric of her dress was soaking in her blood.

Her eyes were suddenly empty and lifeless.

Did she just die? No. She was killed.

He stared at her form not comprehending what had happened. He couldn't pay attention to the fact that the same people were dragging him away from her. ...Away from the home... If they take him... how will his father find him? He felt like he had lost his ability to speak, or shout.

No one would hear him.

On this island, for most of the time, he and Aiko were alone.

He was alone?

They were bad people. They didn't kill her on orders, like most shinobi would do. They took him to sell him, not caring who he was. And now they were running away God knows where. Why?

* * *

End of chapter 3

* * *

**A. N. **To clarify it, yes, Yagura broke the seal to release the bijuu. The green_ thing _was Zetsu of course.


	4. Son

Ages:

Naruto/Shirushi- age 4

Minato- age 28 (more or less I guess)

Madara- age 80+ (though I am ready to give him 100!)

* * *

"Speech."

_Emphasis on the word

* * *

_Edited by** Floating On An Akatsuki Cloud**

* * *

Chapter 4: Son

The unexpected death of three tailed beast's jinchuuriki was too troublesome.

It meant that he could no longer play the role of the young leader of Mist. After official reports and witnesses of the demon gracing the land with its walk, everyone would understand that Yagura was dead, and the monster was unsealed.

He couldn't go back to the office. But at least, his actions destroyed that country giving him a feeling of contentment, accomplishment.

He did not plan to lose time, so he and Nagato worked on the methods of resealing the beast. It wasn't easy, considering the amount of chakra it would take. Also, the statue for gathering bijuu had its shortcomings. They needed at least six powerful shinobi to successfully use the sealing technique, and even then, the process would take three days. There were four of them, and it irritated him that there were three shinobi aware of his existence. Zetsu just worked for him on his own free will, that said it all; he was interested in Madara's plans and was generally bored without something to do. Nagato was a different story. That naive man wanted 'peace'. It took lots of thinking to persuade him that Madara wanted peace too, only, he planned to reach it by war. It was surprising how easily some individuals could be manipulated if you had convincing arguments. 'People tend to feel fear, and fear pain. But only knowing that pain, they will fear it to a point where they avoid it. Let people learn pain of war, pain of losing, and they will do all in their power to prevent it from happening again. And then, only then, will people learn the true meaning of Peace.'

There was no need to convince his partner, Konan. The woman was loyal to Nagato and if he changed his views she would do the same. She learned to depend on him, and follow his plans. And if Nagato decided that capturing jinchuuriki of the bijuu was a step to obtaining means for creating Peace, then she would agree.

But now all of them knew his face, his name and status. It was wrong. He wasn't ready to discard his_ own _safety and peace. Letting others know of his true identity was too risky. He hadn't been hiding for years for nothing. That was why he planned to change his tactics. They needed more people, powerful shinobi to be exact. Logically, you couldn't take shinobi from other villages; they were loyal to their leaders, so, you had to gather these shinobi without them being tied. The answer? Missing Nins. And it meant money, and goals. It meant forming a group, organization. And an organization needed a leader. Oh, no, no, no, he'd never plan on taking that position. Too risky. Too obvious. Too easy to spot. But then it meant... forming and creating bases, schemes and... He got a headache.

He couldn't do all of that.

Or could he?

He stopped in his tracks realizing that the beast roaming free in Water country brought trouble. He had an island with his private place and if he wasn't ready to get the demon under control he had to change its location. And if he planned to form some sort of organization, Nagato could always become its official leader. And as he was also the leader of Ame, the first base could always be formed there.

Not a bad idea.

Now, if they could get more members...

There _was_ a failed attempt at killing the Mizukage, him in disguise, a short time ago. After that, the group known as the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist fell apart. There were only two members of that group that _one_, were not taking part in attack, and _two_, were strong enough to be considered as an addition to his new organization he had been thinking of forming...

He smirked and continued on his way to the highest tower in Rain village. He wouldn't have to show his face to any more people. Uchiha Madara? He died long ago. He couldn't be a leader of any organization.

Nagato could be.

* * *

They decided to take a short break.

Two of them stayed on alert, ready to act if the enemy showed up in their line of vision. Up until now, no one caught up with them. They were in Wave Country, or close to it. Travelling on water for a very long time was almost stupid, but in doing so, there was no risk of anyone knowing of direction they travelled in. Their chakra reserves were incredibly low, so they took breaks in turns, glad that Fire country was not too far away.

They were not surrounded by mist anymore and their vision was clear. The swamps of Wave were like traps protecting them from all sides. They didn't start a fire, to avoid getting attention, and were revelling in their almost successful escape.

They were only days away from their freedom.

The blond boy keenly observed his captors, not making a sound. They tied his hands, fingers and mouth. Not that it changed that much. He didn't know any jutsu yet, so he wouldn't attack them with one, or use one to break free. And he wasn't stupid enough to annoy these ninja with his speech, so even if he could make a noise, he would still opt to observe them.

Sometimes they would speak to each other using hand signs, mainly for two reasons, to make as little noise as possible, and to separate him from conversation. But they didn't know he understood most of it anyway. As well as hand signs they used for techniques they were forced to use. For the most part, it confused the boy, as he would rather call their actions a speech. What was the point in speaking while using chakra? It was confusing.

He saw them use chakra in ways he wasn't aware of before. Walking on water and increasing speed by that were things he vowed to learn too. But they did not seem to see chakra like he did. And their eyes were usual too. It was a small advantage on his part, but meant little in these conditions.

One of resting men scowled at the blond and narrowed his eyes. "What are you looking at, brat."

The boy blinked and tilted his head, making it seem like he didn't understand why the man addressed him. A woman walked by and shot her comrade a short glare. "Leave him alone."

The man 'tsk'ed, deforming his lips and slightly shook his head. "He's watching us."

"He's just a kid." She replied tiredly.

The man directed his gaze at the tied boy and muscles on his face tensed. "Kids his age behave differently. They are scared, lonely, _terrified_. Children do not eye their captors like predators. And he's studying us. Like he understands who we are, what we do, and why."

The young man behind a tree laughed, keeping his stare on surroundings. "Aren't you exaggerating a bit? Damn, I didn't know you would be scared of a _toddler_."

"I don't like his eyes."

"You wanna speak of _my _likes and dislikes, man?" The younger male replied.

Their group was silent after that.

* * *

Water Country

Silence.

It was a first thing that greeted him.

No shouting, smiling, hugging and laughs. The house was empty and a feeling of coldness confused him. Usually, they waited for him and his presence made Aiko and Shirushi incredibly happy. Now, he felt like he was in a different place.

Walking outside he noted the air was humid, and a storm of sorts was close to area. His island would be fresh after the rain, and he thought about staying here for more than one day.

He abruptly stopped seeing a dead body among the grass, on the ground.

For a short moment he was frozen as his thought process was stopped.

Her skin was extremely pale, eyes opened, still staring in direction of a tree line. She had that white dress on, with miniature yellow flowers. It was her favourite. She often put it on, knowing that she looked younger in these colours.

Sometimes... she seemed to try to get his attention. Maybe she thought that he was a lonely and sad man, with money and power, and a son she was raising. Or maybe, away from other people and home, she forced herself to believe she loved him, and it eased her worry.

She was too kind. She never mentioned anything about her predicament. She never hinted that she wanted anything. She said she loved the boy. She said Madara made her happy. Always. She always said the same. With a smile on her face. Like an angel, that lived with a sole propose of making others happy. If there was anything she wanted to do, it was to give more of her never ending love. But he never let her get closer. No matter how good intentions she had, he didn't want it.

She said once, that he built a wall around his heart. She said that if he wouldn't stop he would become a monster. She was in tears then, shaken after receiving his refusal in answering her questions. He didn't say that he became a monster long ago, and it did not matter.

But sometimes, he asked himself why she wanted to change him so much. Was it for the boy?

He crouched by the body and tilted his head, inspecting it.

She was killed by shinobi. Now that he concentrated, he could sense the remainder, traces of chakra, different from his and Shiru's. It was even somewhat familiar... He looked up and slowly rose. With realization that the blond boy was not here and might have been taken, he made steps further in direction of the chakra. When after walking through bushes and trees he stopped, he finally remembered where he felt that energy before.

His fingers touched the thick grass below, and he noted that there must've been a 'window'. There were only few shinobi around who could enter genjutsu filled area undetected and leave it in the same fashion.

These had to be ice users. They killed the woman using a kunai, so they didn't want to attract attention. They were running away? How stupid.

He scowled.

It's been two days since Aiko was dead. If they travelled fast and barely used any techniques, he wouldn't be able to find them. And two days was a lot when it came to shinobi trained since they were able to walk. He could care less who they were, and what they wanted, but if it involved _his_ property, it was a personal matter. This place was his, and that woman served him, and the boy was definitely his and no one else's.

He hummed thinking on how to track the offenders. It wasn't often he cared enough to be in a hurry. Finding and asking Zetsu wasn't a good idea, he sent him on a different mission just hours ago and letting him know who he wanted to be found didn't sound good. But anyone else was not fit for that kind of job, unless... Here he shut his eyes tightly and grit his teeth, asking himself if he really cared enough about the boy to do _this_.

After all, it's been years.

He rubbed his chin furiously, thinking if he should take the risk, and seconds passed by, as he was tormented by his indecision.

He paced left and right, making short, senseless steps as his mind was busy with comparing loses and wins he'd make if he followed one or another choice.

In the end, minutes later, he audibly sighed letting his Uchiha nature win, where his possessions were more important than the means.

He bit his thumb and made hand seals with precision. His right hand touched the ground and after a circle of symbols appearing under his palm, there was a puff of smoke. Before it dispersed, the voice spoke from within.

"I thought that day would never come, Madara."

"It's nice to know you still remember me, Hanare." He replied, standing. With wind blowing the smoke away, it was revealed that first voice belonged to an animal, large and dark brown, it had light yellow eyes and proud posture; its long bushy tail was wrapped around its paws. It was a fox, muscled and visibly trained, and the animal was scowling at its summoner with displeasure.

"To what do I owe the honour of being summoned?" It asked with bitterness, sounding insulted.

The man sighed again and looked down. "I wouldn't ever summon you if I didn't need you, right? And I didn't need you for years."

"Choose your words carefully, Madara. You _never_ needed help from our clan. You weren't interested in having partners in foxes; all you wanted was our grand master, Kyuubi-sama." The fox spoke baring sharp teeth. "You disgraced our kind, breaking our connection with the human world and breaking your _word_."

The man nodded, staying silent. His posture was tense, and after eying him up and down, the animal snorted. "You'd never summon me if you could avoid it. It'd be an ...insult to your power. What could have possibly happen to the all mighty Uchiha Madara that he had to resort to _summoning_?"

"I need to track someone. And I don't have too much time for this."

The animal frowned and turned its head to the side. "It's unlike you." The man stayed quiet, waiting. "Who is it you are looking for and what would you give in exchange for my services? Understand that your name is cursed in our clan, and we will not serve you if it's not in our interests."

He hesitated before speaking, but inwardly slapped himself to come to senses. "I am looking for my... son." The fox looked up in disbelieving gaze, its forehead furrowed in confusion. "It's a long story; what do you want in exchange for your help?"

Hanare lowered his head, thinking. "...The human world has no memory of our clan, has no respect for us. Humans do not realize we exist and have more power than other summons. We want our glory, fame and recognition back." The fox looked up seriously. "Give us a summoner. One that has potential, battles to fight, and deserves our support."

The man was still for a minute. If they wanted a new summoner, it meant that once they had one, he would be erased from the contract, something that didn't happen yet due to him being the only connection to human realm the clan had. They had a right to do this, he knew that, but he still needed them. He had to find Kyuubi. His greatest summon was defeated by Yondaime and by unknown technique, and any sources he had, claimed that the nine tailed fox was gone, and there was no object or human host in Konoha that contained the demon. Fox clan from summoning realm was one of the few connections to the beast he had left. He needed their knowledge, and the first step he had to make was to fix the tense relations between them. It was true that he betrayed their trust, and giving them a new summoner was the least he could logically do.

"I understand. You may choose anyone you want."

The animal nodded. It let its gaze travel over surroundings and sniffed the air. The brown tail with yellow tip started to dance above the ground. "Let's start hunting."

* * *

Wave Country

Pain.

Fire.

He couldn't open his eyes as they were too heavy. His skin was covered in sweat. He was confused with the cold he felt outside of his body, and uncontrollable feeling of burning inside. He was trembling as sharp pain travelled from his lungs to his stomach, and then appeared in his heart, and again in his side. What did this boy do to him?

Flashes of memories blurred in his vision, from the moment where he fought with his comrades about killing the child, to the moment when he wanted to close the boy's eyes himself. He was brash, aggressive and it scared the blond. The boy tried to get away, but was unsuccessful.

His large hand covered the eyelids of the boy, and then he heard his own screaming, when strange, thick and red haze covered his hand, burning it till it turned black. For him, it was only proof that the child was too dangerous, but his comrades viewed it as the sign of power, and forced him to accept the fact that they would keep the boy alive to sell him.

Another flash of memory showed as he screamed in pain later, cursing bloodlines. Only one of them was a medic, and concluded that his hand was not only burned, but poisoned, which had something to do with his weakening chakra network. That poison affected his body, so he was drugged when that idiot cut his hand off, to save his life.

_It didn't help._

It wouldn't help even if his entire arm was cut off.

Everything was on fire. His own blood was boiling inside, threatening to explode from inside of him.

He was losing his mind, so when that foolish sister of the medic started to protect the boy, stating that he protected himself and it wasn't his fault one of them was suffering, he snapped. He wanted to kill that child, maybe to protect his comrades or have revenge... But again, she tried to stop him. He was enraged when he attacked her, feeling that she betrayed them.

And she, unlike him, didn't suffer.

Her death was quick and cold, like ice.

He was gritting his teeth to stay quiet as he was slowly dying before their eyes. Then he started to curse himself. Because of him they were slowed down, and couldn't travel as fast. He was a burden. They didn't trust him any longer after his actions.

His half opened eyes searched their faces, to see detachment, sadness, and in some of them, pity. They have already buried her body, and did that with care and remorse. They knew that they could hide her scent in some ways, but those methods would be a sign of disrespect and cruelty, which she did not deserve, unlike him.

He was in agony when they said their last words to him, some of them forgiving him, others staying uncomfortably silent. And all this time, the child was there. They covered his sight with material, to make sure that incident did not repeat itself, but to him, it seemed like the boy kept watching. His face was blank, like he had no emotions or reaction to what was happening. For all the time he was with them, he barely spoke, which was even more confusing. He was tied, had his eyes closed, he could do nothing and was a helpless child, and still, unexplainably so, it felt like there was more to his behaviour and ability than at the first glance.

The blade of kunai slid across his sweat covered neck silently, and he was dead when his body was dragged into the swamp nearby. He didn't feel its coldness, or the way it pulled him deeper. His skin was covering itself in his own blood, as his form was disappearing within the marsh created by nature. It was his grave, where his scent, chakra and personal secrets were hidden from the world forever.

...

Nature was not on their side.

Winds, waters and time took away the traces of scent, chakra and any other activity. They had to travel across waters surrounding the country blindly.

Then, deducing that shinobi travelled to Wave and Fire countries, they blindly searched for signs of them being anywhere along the border. And when they did, it wasn't something he was expecting.

The first thing they found was a body.

It was a woman, buried about a day or so ago. What confused him were her wounds. The one who inflicted them possessed the same bloodline she had. Humming and storing that information for later, Madara sealed the body into scroll, thankful that temperature of earth below was low, keeping the skin intact. His curiosity led him to believe he could study the differences between this clan and other shinobi; he was especially interested in comparing them to Senju, even though any comparison was farfetched.

He was surprised how eagerly Hanare followed the scents. Sometimes too eagerly for his own likes, but he was thankful for that. In the end, by midday they caught up with them on the border to Fire country, where they managed to be witnesses of negotiation between refugees and border patrol.

There were four shinobi they trailed from Water country, with one of them missing, while the other they found dead. One of them, possibly a leader, held a boy in place by his side. Madara scowled seeing his hands and fingers tied, and his eyes covered. His clothes, which had to be the same he was in the day he was taken, were dirty and torn. His usually vibrant expressions, filled with joy, were replaced with detachment and coldness. The anger rose within him seeing the hand of that worthless man touch the child that could be touched by him only.

His gaze shifted onto the figures of the Leaf shinobi. There were three of them by the refugees, and he also noted that two more were hidden in the trees. All five of them were from low to high jounin level which was surprising; wouldn't the Leaf rather send a team of chuunin under a jounin commander? They must have had a mission of sorts in this area. And an important one, seeing their number and skill level, though, they were clothed like standard jounin, not ANBU. He narrowed his eyes at implications of that. It would've been better if he caught his quartet without any witnesses, but now he had little choice, wait till he could attack them when they were not in company of the Leaf shinobi or attack now, each and every one of them.

He almost snarled when one of shinobi on patrol laughed at something the ice user said, and stepping close to the boy, lifted the cloth off his eyes. With curiosity, the Leaf ninja one after another looked into the purple orbs as the boy glared at them with ferocity.

Now he shouldn't wait till they left.

They saw something they had no right of seeing. He couldn't let them spread the information about existence of the new doujutsu.

He barely noticed Hanare growl as he rushed ahead with the speed that left his image disappearing. Unnoticed, he stole up to two of Konoha shinobi under cover and got rid of them without a sound, using a chain to successfully stifle them. Then, even faster, he slit the throats of three other jounin. They didn't know what happened as they fell on the ground dead. And with a glint of bloodlust in his eyes, and a blood covered blade in his hand, he faced those four that were the cause of his headache for the last three days.

The refugees regained their mobility in mere seconds after witnessing the fast defeat of their potential escort and protectors. Three pairs of hands formed seals and they reached for weapons. Thanks to their bloodline, they had the speed that was rare among shinobi, but even they could not stop the gashes that appeared on their bodies in a blink of an eye.

Crimson liquid covered the black sleeves of his cloak and he shook the blood off the blade that started to slide over the handle. He turned to the last one, who was panting in uncertainty, as he held the edge of kunai very close to the neck of the child. His pale forehead was marred by the deep frown and he made hesitant steps back, fearful of the killer whose red eyes murderously glared.

Hanare was intently watching the scene, keeping his gaze on the boy. Since the beginning, he could smell that he was _not_ Madara's child. Usually, someone's scent could tell which pack he belonged to, as families often shared certain traits. The boy didn't smell like Madara and neither looked like him; but he could tell there was a bond between them, if the man's actions were anything to go by. And that wasn't all that had his attention. The child... it smelled differently. And at the same time, he could tell it was human, but with something inhuman about him. It was the reason he was so intent on finding and meeting the boy. There was a connection the boy might have with summons or summoning realm in general, but he couldn't pinpoint that; also, it seemed Madara himself didn't know of it, as he hasn't mentioned it nor gave a hint.

The fox lowered its head and stared at the violet eyes. He wouldn't tell the Uchiha that the boy was special in that way.

The last ice user trembled under the powerful gaze and was shocked to see as his right hand, which previously held the blade at the boy's throat, slowly rose. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the killer, and it was a puzzle at the back of his mind as presently, he noticed that his right hand came dangerously close to his own neck. There was a second of realization, when suddenly, without understanding, he willingly plunged the metal in the base of his throat.

The stream of blood that followed that action reached the boy's shoulder, where it became stains of colour. Still with the shocked expression, the man dropped on the ground, dead.

For a moment, Madara was still, and then he finally looked down at the boy.

It was unknown if Shiru saw a monster then, or a saviour. He was still shocked after the death of his surrogate mother, confused about his kidnapping, and terrified of the thought of becoming a slave and never seeing his father again.

The cold fire in man's eyes softened and he stepped closer to the blond, moving down on one knee. Without hesitation the boy slowly reached him and wordlessly hid his face in the man's chest.

He sighed with relief, glad that after all that happened his son recognized him. Thinking of the blond as his child was still new to him, but he was getting used to it, seeing as he couldn't help it after all this time. He embraced him gently and severed the bonds on his hands. The blonde's hands quickly found their place on the man's shirt, and he held the fabric in a tight grip.

He rose with the boy in his arms and pressing his face to the top of his head, quietly inhaled his smell; the smell of young, warm and pure. And it was his. He was surprised that he even hesitated before going after the captors. His son was worthy of his worry, hurry and care.

"Dad."

The boy whispered with confirmation, and relaxed, finally feeling that he was safe.

The fox rose from its sitting position and walked to them. It ignored the bodies on the ground and stopped in front of the black clad man. They exchanged calm but serious gazes and the animal spoke.

"Summon me two days from now. We shall discuss the terms of the deal."

At Madara's nod, the fox disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Fire Country, Konoha

Since the moment she entered, she was quiet, except for the formal greeting exchanged by them.

He motioned for her to take a seat, and she did.

After that, both of them stayed quiet.

He kept rereading the report on his desk that he kept under his gaze. It stated that for the last year Hyuuga Hikari was reserved, barely responsive, ignored her duties, ignored her son, and just last month, attempted to commit suicide.

His observation showed that she didn't sleep well; shadows under her eyes could not be covered, no matter how large amount of make-up was applied. She lost some of her weight and seemed to be absentminded most of the time. With a pang in his chest he realized that her eyes looked almost the same as they did the day she saw her husband dead.

Sitting in front of him in a guest chair, she was motionless, like she was alone in the room. When from the beginning she realized he wanted her to speak to him, she opted to avert her eyes and ignore him. She probably knew that this visit though initiated by Minato himself, was not official and would have no repercussions; but he suspected that she didn't care either way.

The report also stated that there were at least two people, relatives that tried to reach to her; her older sister, Hiashi's wife, and her closest friend in the branch house. As it was easy to see, none of them could help her get over the tragedy. In the end, she would most likely try to kill herself again.

He glanced at her clothing. It was expensive, a white and lavender kimono. It was simple, modest in its design. Her small feet were clad in soft white socks and geta. Her black, long and silky hair was put in a bun, and her forehead was covered with a white band.

Not willing to look at him, she stared over his shoulder, at the window, or through it. He sighed inwardly, understanding that she would not feel intimidated or encouraged to speak unless he simply talked to her.

He leaned back in his own comfy chair and rested his hands on the desk. He thought on where to start from, and closed his eyelids taking a breath in before whispering.

"Kushina-chan was my wife." He gulped, realizing that it would be harder than he thought, but he gathered himself, and let the fingers of his right hand play with a brush he picked off the desk before continuing. "...She died in my arms, four years ago. ...She gave a birth to our baby." His gaze travelled sideways to the corner of his desk, where he kept the picture of her.

It was his favourite. She was widely smiling at him as he held the camera, and her beautiful red hairs were shining in the rays of sunlight. Her greyish eyes were so childish then. There was mirth, love, playfulness, care, affection, joy...

"...Neither she, nor our son, are here." He turned to look at the woman who stared at him with empty gaze. "I lost them that day. ...I cried. ...I died, inside. I blamed myself. ...I hold myself responsible till this day." She broke the eye contact and he too, opted to look away.

"I never admitted to... to having intention to... kill myself. I had nothing to live for. ...So, I think I was convinced then, that I didn't deserve to live." He felt a moisture gathering in the corners of his eyes and rubbed them to hide it before it was visible. Then he laughed shortly and smiled before speaking a bit louder. "...I... I was told that I was a fool. I was told that I am a coward if I want to end my life and stop trying. ...Sensei, he made me believe, that I still have a reason to live."

He looked up and felt a bit easier. "You see... I have responsibilities. I am Hokage. I have people I have to protect, and a son to find. If... if I give up, leave, it would be selfish. ...It would mean I don't respect myself. It would mean I do not care about my closest people. ...Hikari-san," He addressed her, and she started, before slowly turning to look at him. "...Do you not care about your closest, most important people? Do you not respect yourself?"

She pressed her lips tightly and lowered her gaze. "I... I don't know anymore." She mumbled almost to herself.

He saw her withdraw into herself; it was noticeable in her hunched position, lowered head and folded hands. He sighed before speaking a bit harsher than he intended.

"Then you better do and soon." He reached under the file of report and took a short document that had a signature of Hyuuga clan head at the end of it. "This... is a request from Hiashi." He looked up at her with a strong and unbreakable gaze.

She was confused but silent, so he continued. "If I sign it, Hyuuga Neji will be put under the care of other members from the branch house. Understand that this is an important matter, because once that happens, you shall no longer be his mother. Do you understand the situation you are in?"

She gasped, and it was the strongest reaction he got from her since she walked in. He saw fear, realization and pain on her face, and it was a strange feeling of satisfaction for him. He managed to reach through, and there was still a hope for her.

He deliberately slowly hid the request back under the file. "One month. I am willing to give you one month, before I decide to sign, or _not _sign this document. Am I doing a right thing?"

Absently, she nodded and he sighed with relief.

* * *

Ame

When they stood in front of him he asked himself if there was anything he forgot about.

After a minute of trying to remember what it was he came to conclusion that there wasn't anything he had to remember which would refer to _this_.

The light in the building was low, somewhat gloomy but he still could easily see their features. Madara's were strangely apologetic, and asking for understanding, while the boy's were confused and curious. Both of them stared at him while he could only blink and wait for explanation. He raised his stare at the red eyed man and let him see that he was not pleased with anything Madara did or was going to do. They were in the corridor, leading to the main hall in his main building, and Madara called him when he was busy with testing one of his new bodies. Furthermore, he did not expect Madara to be back this early; they met and discussed their plans several days ago... He blinked again.

"Shiru, I want you to meet someone. This is my ...friend, Nagato. We work together." The Uchiha said still looking at the man in front of him, and then he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Nagato, meet Shirushi. He is my son."

Nagato blinked, perplexed.

The boy tilted his head and studied the strange shinobi. He too, like he and his father had eyes different than usual, but he also had some strange black sticks and elements in his body. They were on his face, in his nose, ears, neck, under his lips, in his hands, and if he concentrated, he could sense them in the rest of his body. He immediately liked his colour of hair, it was orange. The man also had a forehead protector, and if he was correct, as he remembered the history lessons, it had a symbol of Ame; strangely, it was slashed. He was wearing a long black cloak, similar to the one his dad wore, though without a hood.

"...Um, nice to meet you." The boy mumbled and Madara smirked.

Nagato, or rather, Deva Path, raised his left brow. A moment later he grunted, and directed his gaze back at Madara. He spoke a minute later, breaking the silence.

"...You've got to be kidding me."

The red eyed man shook his head slightly. "I'm serious; and by circumstances, I am forced to ask if he can stay here."

Nagato thought over it for a minute, staying completely silent and motionless, and then, he gave a curt nod and turned on the heel to walk in direction of the hall.

* * *

Somewhere on the border of Kusa and Taki

He knew that both of them were freaks of nature.

It wasn't hard to tell, considering that one of them was blue, and the other was two coloured; both of them were tall, strange in their form, speech and generally out of standards.

Why did he agree to this again?

Money; strong opponents, and lots of fun...

He glanced at his companion and if it wasn't for being immune after years of seeing strange, odd and ugly, he would've cringed. No surprise he was offered a position in the group, and so easily accepted. If all of them were going to be this out of picture, they definitely could call themselves a family.

They were travelling somewhere on the border of Grass and Waterfall. It was grassy all right. ...Trees and bushes here and there. Sometimes they crossed the rivers.

This particular mission was simple; find one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who gave up his title a year ago, but was still known to be one of the strongest.

He remembered him from before, which was probably the reason he was here, looking for that man. Kuma Dzurui wielded two swords, which was rare among swordsmen; the fact that both were heavy zanbatos only made him even more unique. His appearance, of a man taller and bigger than Hoshigaki Kisame himself, made him an intimidating, formidable and overall scary opponent. Though Dzurui didn't have as much chakra as Kisame did, he had many tricks up his sleeves, physical power, and speed. He could fight against dozens of opponents at the same time, _finish_ them in the record time, and walk away from the battlefield unscathed. He would be a great addition to the organization, seeing as he loved money, fighting, and didn't like to stay in one place for too long.

Now if only they could find him.

For that reason, as Kisame was no tracker, Zetsu was ordered to become his temporary partner.

And as the plant man claimed, they were on their way to reach him; he must have had ability to ask trees if two swords wielding man walked by... but that wasn't Kisame's business.

Maybe Dzurui wasn't known as someone who could sense chakra at the distance, but Kisame was sure that if he could he would've dashed in their direction, eager to fight. That was why he glared at the back of the lazily walking man when they finally caught up with him. The bastard didn't even turn around. What the hell was wrong with him?

Zetsu hummed and both of them stopped, noticing that their target ceased strolling.

Kisame grimaced. The wind was blowing sideways, and the sun was hidden by thin, white clouds. All three of them were quiet for what seemed like eternity... It was all too damn dramatic.

He looked at his temporary partner to see that even though the man got used to him in the last few days, he was wary of their target, so he was quiet, and if Kisame had to guess, considered hiding somewhere underground. What a weakling.

He looked at his old friend, and realized he was in no mood to talk. ...To hell with it.

"What the f... is wrong with you, Kuma, won't you even greet your old comrade?"

His speech followed tense and heavy silence, so he scowled.

The back of the man, with strapped, heavy swords crossing each other, finally turned and he graced them with his front. Seeing it, Kisame turned his head puzzled.

It was a first time he saw the man covered from head to toes. No kidding, even half of his face, his hands and feet were hidden behind clothes. If he remembered correctly, Dzurui never liked to dress up, as he always complained about hot weather and fabric being a nuisance. Why the sudden change?

"What do you want." The man half asked and half stated, in a voice completely unfamiliar to Kisame. His yellow eyed companion noticed his change in demeanour and addressed him.

"Is something the matter?"

"Damn yes... Something is wrong with him."

Zetsu blinked with one eye and looked at their target. Not waiting for him to come to conclusions Kisame continued to speak.

"Actually, we're here with an offer. But before I state it I'd like to know what happened to you. You've changed, but it's not like we parted ways decades ago. Did you have to chew more than you could swallow?" He asked with a grin, suspecting that the man got in a fight which after he had to hide his horrific, scarred appearance.

"You could say that." The figure replied cryptically, and that brought another frown to shark like features.

"We are here to ask if you'd be interested to join our group..." Zetsu started but the man cut him.

"I'm not interested in joining any group. I work alone."

Kisame 'tch'ed and reached for the handle of his wide sword. "I think I'll have to beat some sense into you. You're getting annoying, Dzurui."

With that he quickly appeared before the covered man and swung Samehada at his midsection. He expected the man to stop the attack with one of his swords, but he jumped sideways instead. Kisame attacked again, opting for a close range fight, but the man's dodging irritated him to the point of eye twitching.

"Dodging? It's not your style!"

Responding to his accusation, the man reached for the sword and blocked the wrapped Samehada. Kisame tilted his head and studied the man's arm suspiciously.

"That's too stiff, don't you think?" He overpowered him and suddenly, the form of the man went still. It seemed paralyzed. "Huh? You had more chakra before..." A second later, with disappointment clear on his face, Kisame cleaved the man from his top shoulder to hip and was surprised when from the back of the figure something jumped back...

* * *

**A. N. **_Kuma Dzurui: Cunning Bear_


	5. Forbidden fruit is always the sweetest

Ages:

Minato 29 years old (more or less)

Madara 80+

In the second part of the chapter, Neji is 6 years old;-we all remember he's a year older than Naruto))))

Edited by **Floating On An Akatsuki Cloud**

"Speech."

**"Dark, demonic speech."**

_Flashback or emphasis on the word_

Chapter 5: Forbidden fruit is always the sweetest

Confused about the turn of events, Kisame moved back to make some distance between them. He frantically looked for the strange thing behind his former comrade and was surprised to see a silhouette of a human being, though, a rather small one.

Shirtless, it seemed to be a guy with red hair, bandages over his stomach, lower chest and arms, with scrolls on his back and clad in black pants and sandals.

"Consuming your opponent's chakra is a very interesting ability. It complicates everything. But I am glad you showed a flaw in my techniques. I shall look into this later."

"...Huh?" Kisame mouthed, not really understanding what the smaller person meant.

The red haired guy looked up emotionlessly and studied his pursuers. "I should have taken into account that other shinobi may recognize this body. How unfortunate." The person muttered quietly, seemingly lost in thought.

"So, I take it Dzurui is dead." Kisame let his gaze travel up and down the hunched and now sliced form of his former comrade. He was surprised that the man was defeated by someone he didn't know nor had heard about but it only made him curious. This guy must have been a skilled shinobi to survive a fight with a ninja of that calibre. It couldn't be power that determined the winner. This ninja had intellect, knowledge, and experience. He didn't have enough chakra to be a close range fighter, not to mention muscles. He probably used illusions or tricks with chakra manipulation, like many medics did; techniques that required perfect chakra control. "Who are you?"

"It is irrelevant. The person you were after is dead, I suggest we part our ways and forget about this meeting."

Zetsu tilted his head and spoke with a voice of his darker half. "**Our objective is to gather powerful ninja. We offer many things to our members, beside money, power and purpose**."

The plant like man noticed that the body of a shorter man was abnormal. Was it artificial? He raised his left hand and twitched his fingers, to which, the body of a dead swordsman came to life. The wound Kisame seemingly inflicted was merely a slit of an upper body without blood or intestines leaving it. It stepped back and stopped by the red haired man, seemingly ready to protect him.

"Hmm, puppetry... a rare and efficient art in shinobi world." Zetsu muttered, taking attention of the puppeteer on himself, as Kisame frowned at the unfamiliar term.

The brown orbs looked at them disdainfully; as the master of puppets he knew that no matter what they knew about this art, they would never fully realize what was behind it, the idea of it, its objective and power. He was a master, and he was still learning from his mistakes...

_Flashback_

_...It was lunch time in Suna, and the Sandaime Kazekage rested in his chambers, drinking and eating by a low table, when his son knocked on the door and entered with a pleasant smile. He was clothed lightly, in white colours; his head was covered by white hood, as the sand in the village was almost inescapable. He notified the leader that they received a message from Iwa, where next chuunin exams were taking place, and it had details about the time and place of event, as well as rules and invitations. The older man was pleased with this and they shared a drink of sake, anticipating the day they will have more chuunin shinobi under their command._

_The Sandaime never noticed two scentless and colourless drops of liquid entering his cup..._

_...Sasori walked down the dusty streets of the village deep in thought, having heard about the coming exams. Maybe there were several people he'd be interested to watch through the event, but he never truly cared. He was a jounin, he had no students, and so he was barely concerned. But Sandaime-sama did not think so. His uncle was a stubborn man. He often reminded Sasori that he was ready to teach others, but would there be anyone worthy and willing to learn of his specialty? That was doubtful. Nonetheless, the man kept on pressing. He even mentioned that the best leaders were the ones who could pass on the knowledge. Sasori ignored the hint, knowing that he would never become a good teacher, or a leader for that matter. There were people more interested in the position. He was just a soldier, and for most of the time, preferred to work alone._

_For those, or maybe that time for different reasons, Kazekage-sama called him to his office, and he was expected after lunch. He strode there, more or less knowing what the talk would be about, but despite that, he would be on time, regardless of his own plans, because he hated to wait and make others wait too. _

_When he entered the office, he immediately noticed that his uncle did not look well. The man was slightly sweating and his breathing was quite irregular. It wasn't something you'd pay attention to but he was perceptive enough to see the difference between his normal looks and that day. The colour of his skin was a bit paler and the small veins around his irises as well as veins in his body were hidden._

_"Ah, Sasori, good that you're here, have you heard the news?" The man looked up with a smile but the young jounin kept his stoic, serious face._

_He closed the door and made a step further into the office ."Yes I heard, but there are things more important, for example, the fact that Kazekage-sama was poisoned."_

_The man stared at him unblinkingly and was motionless in shock, while Sasori slowly reached him and after inspecting his face, pulled the skin under man's eye lower to look at the colour of the eye socket._

_"I would recommend immediate treatment, before your state gets worse."_

_The man was deeply frowning when he leaned on the desk to stand up; he absently nodded and Sasori moved aside so that the man could walk out and be treated by a medic, but before the Kazekage could reach the door, he stumbled in his steps and puppeteer had to catch him._

_Not a second later four members of squad guarding the leader appeared around them. _

_"How sure are you?" The man asked, referring to his being poisoned, while leaning on the jounin._

_"I am an expert when it comes to poisons. I created many of them myself, so I recognize the symptoms of one when I see it."_

_The man started to breathe heavier and turned to the squad that waited for his orders._

_"Start the investigation; I want to know who managed to do this without me noticing. I believe you can find an antidote, Sasori?" At the jounin's nod they started to leave, while the squad disappeared with the orders._

_After that, Sasori took him to his laboratory as quickly as he could to perform analysis and prepare antidote. He had a suspicion what kind of poison could be used on the man, so he was sure that it wouldn't take long. So he was surprised to find that someone was in his private study. Whoever it was, he or she did not leave the traces, leaving the place intact. But he was always cautious, and seals, carefully hidden in the room notified him of a foreign chakra signature being found. _

_He cursed inaudibly when he found the empty vessels for the poisons that were most probably used on the older man. The first thought on his mind concerning it was that someone planned to frame him. Utterly confused about who would go so far to kill the village leader, he searched his shelves for the cure, and was even more surprised to find that it was gone. _

_"How strange; I didn't pay attention to the way I felt and if it wasn't for your observation skills ...I would swallow painkillers again and continue working..." The man spoke as he sat in the chair. He looked around and saw body parts and devices that were used for creating a puppet; seals, poisons and weapons... half of it were unordinary and simply fascinating._

_"Did you take painkillers today?" Sasori asked, studying the man's blood in microscope and mixing different liquids._

_"Yes." The man replied tiredly. He was slowly feeling worse. That poison didn't give immediate signs after entering the system, but gradually was destroying the body._

_Sasori cursed under his breath; someone mixed the poisons, creating a deadly combination that weakened the cells without decomposing them. In the end Kazekage would stop breathing and die. He'd congratulate the culprit if his uncle wasn't the one dying._

_...It took him longer than he anticipated; two variations of antidote he found were injected and he tried to help it adding medical chakra to the Kage's coils. But no matter how hard he tried, the man was slowly dying. Sasori even had a suspicion that someone might used poisons on the man _before_, weakening him to make sure he died today._

_"You know... that I... wanted you to... become the next... Kazekage..."_

_"I apologize Sandaime-sama, but I am not and never _was_ interested, maybe you should have chosen your son. I am sure he would be fitting for that position, and he mentioned his interest in it before." He replied, concentrating on his chakra._

_The man smiled at him sadly. No matter what the red head said, he would always think of him as the best choice he could make. And the more Sasori denied it, the more he was convinced._

_"...Tekuro... I think he's... the one... behind it..."_

_For a moment his concentration faltered. Was it true? Could that seemingly always pleasant man be responsible? Weren't they cousins? Why would Tekuro kill his own father and frame him... He must have known... He must have heard that Sandaime wanted Sasori to become the next village leader, and wanting that position for himself, he decided to get rid of both him and Sandaime-sama. If all of it was true, he would have visitors very soon..._

_"...you... have to run... surely evidence... will be against you... you'd be executed..."_

_Running wasn't in his style. He wanted to state just that, but the stillness of the man caused a pang in his chest. He hesitantly touched the body to find that now it was cold. His efforts did not give the result. All of it wouldn't happen if no one had access to his laboratory. It was partly his fault... and he too, was guilty..._

_End of Flashback_

Yes, he made mistakes in the past, but it didn't mean it made him weaker. With time he was only stronger. That day he decided to leave with his uncle's body, and he didn't care what people thought. If they feared him more, it only made him feel safer. He never came back, opting to find a purpose in his life. He searched for a way to become immortal, and he achieved that goal, mostly. Now he worked to perfect himself, and he didn't want other shinobi to stand on his way. If they wanted to fight, he'd defeat them, and add them to his growing collection.

"As a man who always perfects his art, you may be interested in studying the bodies of jinchuuriki." The two coloured man added, almost reading his mind.

...Bodies of containers? That actually picked his interest...

* * *

"I am surprised that after everything you'd still be willing to have business with an Uchiha." Madara said, leaning with his back on the tree while Hanare sat by him intently observing the boy, who was learning to walk on water on the opposite shore of the lake.

After first few minutes it was clear to Madara that the boy could see chakra and analyze it very much like the Sharingan could. The boy didn't copy things he saw but he was sure there was still more to that doujutsu.

For now Shiru's objective was to walk across the lake and reach him, as he waited on the other side.

When he heard that the clan of foxes agreed for Shirushi to be their new summoner, he wasn't shocked, but still he would have liked to understand their motives better.

Hanare smirked. "We're not willing to have business with any Uchiha."

For a moment Madara was frowning, and then he sighed.

Not willing to drag uncomfortable silence, he spoke in a low voice. "I am not sure he'll be able to sign the contract. We may call him Uchiha Shirushi, but his true and first given name is unknown to me."

The animal narrowed it slated eyes and glanced at him. "Elaborate please."

"I found him in abandoned village, after it was destroyed by civil war. He was an infant then, and I don't know if it were his eyes or the mood I was in, but I simply felt I _had_ to take him with me. I have no idea who his parents were or who _could_ they even be. Now though, I don't really care, because _I_ am his father."

"Is he aware of that?"

"Not really."

The animal's tail hit the ground lightly, as the fox was thinking deeply.

There was a splash of water and they watched the boy rise over the surface of the lake with a slight grimace.

"The lack of his true name is not an obstacle. There are other ways of forming connection to our clan and summoning realm. ...I spoke with the elders, it is better if the new summoner is young, _not _experienced and independent, so they agreed with my choice."

"You quickly made the decision." Madara asked with a hint of suspicion.

"You know that I am a best tracker in my clan, and have the best nose. I can practically _smell_ his potential."

The man grunted in response. For quite some time, he thought around the same lines.

...

Shirushi/Naruto age 5, Rain village

With a thud, something heavy and rolled up dropped down.

When the dust settled down, Konan stroked the surface of material first. She had dark blue hair, light skin, greyish eyes, piercing under her lower lip, and a white paper flower on the side of her head. She had a black cloak with red clouds and wide collar that all members of organization now wore. Well, all except for Madara. He declared himself dead and appeared only before her, Nagato, Zetsu, and Shirushi of course. To the rest of the world he did not exist. But right now that was not important.

She stood by the table in a room that was prepared for the training she was going to give. Standing on the chair so he could see her actions, was the boy. He was by her side, patiently waiting for her to start. The black, skin made case was like a mystery to the boy, who only started his journey on the way to become shinobi.

With a satisfied expression on her face, she unrolled it, revealing the large set of shiny, polished metal weapons, starting from the round shaped and smaller ones, like shuriken, and ending with bigger and longer weapons like knifes used for throwing at the target from the distance.

The boy stared at it eagerly, ready to touch, hold, throw or simply play with every single one of weapons she presented.

"Most of beginners start to practice with wooden weapons, but I am of opinion that you have to get used to the weight, sharpness, and material you'd be working with from the beginning." She spoke in a soft and lecture mode that she prepared beforehand. She was not willing to admit that she was teaching for a first time, but she was going to do it in the way she would have liked to be taught herself. When the boy nodded in understanding she felt more confident.

"All of these are used to assault the target, distract it, or inserted into the trap mechanism. This," She touched the smaller shuriken with three blades," is number two, the smallest shuriken in size, perfect for throwing at the moving target, as it is the lightest in weight, and therefore, the quickest." She took it out of the socket and held it in her hand, displaying how the weapon must be wielded. She gave it to the boy carefully placing it in his small hand, and made sure he adjusted his fingers to it. Then they moved onto the next.

"The heavier the projectile, the slower it reaches the target, but it goes deeper, inflicting a fatal wound." She informed, taking the weapon similar in shape, but bigger, with six blades. "Number five, the best for using in a short distance; well aimed it can kill instantly. Also, it can pierce through armour if thrown with enough force." She held it in her palm for a moment, before her fingers gracefully wrapped around it and through its hole and with a flip of her wrist it flew across the room, stopping its flight by impaling the wooden target that had a human shape.

By the wall on the other side of the room were four targets, all of them of different size, from teenager to a tall, fully grown adult. The first and at the same time the smallest one was bare, with the most vulnerable, weak points displayed by red paint. Most of them were in the middle part of the body, but some were seen on feet and knees.

The second was slightly taller, with a mesh over an upper body, and a vest that was for protection. The weak points there were in the neck, head and stomach mostly. The third target had the shape of an adult, with the vest with a collar, arm bracers, and mesh shirt with long sleeves under it. Konan wanted it to be close to the standard jounin. She knew that teaching a small child how to attack shinobi of that rank was almost senseless for now, but the boy had to be able to see the difference between weaker and stronger opponents as well as be aware of weak points in their body. In this one it were head, jugular vein, collar-bone area and kneecaps.

The fourth, the last target, was protected by bracers, armour over its chest, knees, and a mask over its face. Its weak points were collar-bone area, neck.

Konan trailed with her right hand over next set of weapons and picked a kunai. "The classic weapon for an attack in a close combat. Kunai have a handle, so it's easy to keep hold of it, it's sharp enough to cut, wide enough to deflect projectiles, its shape lets it reach the target fast in a throw, and the ring is useful for attaching the explosive tags. Comfortable, easy and useful, but... it's not my favourite."

She let the boy try to adjust his hand to the weapon, but both of them noted that it was too heavy for him for now. She presented variations of kunai that were often and rarely used. "This is number eight, often called double kunai." She held the middle of the weapon, which was a handle, wrapped in dark brown material, and on both sides of it were sharp prolonged edges of kunai. Both of seemingly connected kunai were thinner and longer than standard version, and instead of four edges, each had three. The boy raised his brows at this variation and there was a glint in his eyes when in her hand the weapon started to spin.

Knives she showed were of smaller sizes, for quick and precise attack, and the variations for throwing, designed to pierce. The last were long, thin, double edged, with the slim handle.

"And last but not least, needles." She chose the smallest and the shortest one. "This is a deadly weapon in the master's hands. Most of the time it is used by women and medical ninja, simply because they know human anatomy better than other shinobi and using needles requires knowledge." She demonstrated the throw hitting the second target in the neck. "This was number zero."

She hummed and pulled out of the socket a longer one. "Some of the needles don't need to hit certain points for the effect. This is number seven, if you look closely, you'll see an almost nonexistent hole at the tip of it. When dipped in the poison, it shall have effect on the target sooner or later no matter what part of the body was hit; unless the target is immune."

The boy nodded and spoke. "When do I start practicing, Konan-san?"

"Right now." She replied handing him shuriken. The boy grinned in response.

* * *

Konoha

As he stood before the crowd, giving his speech, he unwillingly wondered how many of these children will become shinobi in the future, how many of them will die for the village, and if at least a dozen of them will survive their battles, to live long enough to raise their children and grandchildren.

They looked up at him with respect, trust and admiration. Sometimes he asked himself if he really had done so much for these people.

But then he told himself that he took the position for the good of the village, not of the ill intention or corruption. He was trying his hardest not to disappoint those who depended on him.

"...in the future you will be shinobi and kunoichi, protectors, healers and fighters of our nation. I have faith in each and every one of you. You shall be taught by our best instructors, so please don't disappoint them, and they will not disappoint you. With that, I officially open the new year in the Konoha Ninja Academy!"

The crowd cheered and he stepped away with a smile for the chuunin to call out the names of the students.

He planned to go back to his office and continue working, but he caught a glimpse of familiar face and strode to the side of the mass of people. Children and their parents smiled at him and bowed to him, while he responded to it with a grin of his own. He shook hands with few clan heads on his way, and finally reached the pair.

"Hikari-san, it's good to see you." He greeted, noting that she looked better than ever. Her attire, though simple, had just the right tone of light pink colour that accentuated her beauty. She bowed to him formally.

"It is good to see you too, Hokage-sama."

The dark haired, pale eyed boy by her side followed her example and bent at the waist lowly.

"So, little Neji is ready to enter the academy. How do you feel about it, boy?" He asked, hoping that he could put them at ease, as he noted their postures at his presence became a little tense.

The child blinked and gulped before answering. "I... I am glad, and hope to exceed all Hyuuga as a shinobi, Hokage-sama."

He smirked at that playfully. "Well, if you try hard enough, you could do just about anything."

Neji nodded with a spark in his orbs and Hikari bowed again, thanking him for kind words. He dismissed himself and left with a light step, feeling like the gloominess of the day had passed away.

* * *

Rain village

When he was leaving his room he was careful to make no sound.

After all, he lived on the same floor with Konan-san.

And she didn't let him wander the building.

By the way everyone referred to Nagato-san, including him himself, he deduced that the man would be living somewhere above everyone else. He was like, _the_ leader.

It was only logical that there were more people in here, and he was simply curious. So, he sneaked by her doors, and continued to sneak through the corridor. He moved down the stairs, conscious of every sound and shadow, and entered the floor below.

He studied it for what seemed like hours, but found nothing. No people, no rooms filled with stuff, no anything. It was confusing.

Not in the mood to give up, he descended the stairs one level more, and found himself in a shiny corridor. Lines and wires were attached to the floor, walls and ceiling. His father said that in reality things didn't have a glow, but as his eyes were always active, whatever that meant, he would always see chakra and other energies. He tilted his head and followed the wires, wondering where they led.

Just as he was about to make a turn, he heard the steps, so he quickly entered a room behind him to hide. He wasn't fast enough to close the door, but the person that walked, or rather, ran by it didn't notice it. From the glimpse he caught he could say that it was a male, quite tall, pale, black haired, and he had yellow slated eyes. He looked like a snake. He'd say that the man was thin enough to be one too. He was in a hurry for some reason. But one thing was for sure, they would meet in the future, because that man worked here. He had that cloak with clouds that was a proof of him being part of the organization, how was it called again? Tsuki?

He made sure that the man was far away when he quietly sneaked out and went in direction the man ran from. This time he was even more careful.

Coming upon sliding metal door, he blinked before peeking inside through the slit. His eyes lit up seeing something he was almost denied to see.

Signs, they were everywhere. He could spot them on the walls, on papers and scrolls, on objects, and many things he couldn't name. No one was seemingly there so he decided to take a risk and look around.

He slowly entered and pressed his lips. Was it what a _laboratory_ looked like?

Everything in the room screamed of experiments and scientists. His gaze landed on the opened books and scrolls. He walked closer and read several lines that even making sense to him, appeared to be boring. On the shelf by the table were liquids of different colours, maybe poisons? The seal on the wall glowed and he tilted his head, looking closer. It said something about different or foreign chakra and limited sound... So, the walls were soundproof, and a foreign chakra could be easily detected... oh, so that meant that eventually that man will know someone was here.

He shrugged at that knowledge and stepped to the other table. There was something resembling body... parts. The boy grimaced a bit and poked 'the leg part' with interest. Fortunately, the table was low, so he didn't have to rise on his tip toes to take a look inside the middle part of the body. Curiosity just got the better of him, though he slightly regretted it a moment later.

Inside the body, or what seemed to be a body, were metallic mechanisms, traps, seals of activation and chakra guiding, all that shouldn't be in a human body. He knew, because Aiko taught him about anatomy. If anything, she hoped for him to carry her knowledge as the doctor. He wasn't against it, as he was curious then what was inside of living things...

Anyway, he pulled away from what appeared to be a dead and modified corpse and his gaze quickly landed on another seal. This one was in the body too, and it was in a row with other corpses leaning or hanging on the wall. He wasn't sure if what he saw _were_ real bodies or _not._ There was no blood or innards to indicate if those were corpses so he decided not to think of it too much.

He cautiously stepped closer to the one that interested him ignoring the rest and intently stared at the sign that pulsed with chakra. He tried to read it and understand like he always did, and was confused when it seemed to have the meaning of storing, keeping active and inactive at the same time, and protection. That sign looked to be on the cylindrical object but it was hard to tell, the object seemed to be inside, and the seal was under the fabric. He set his mind to look closer and raised his hand to pull the fabric away, and uncovered the pulsing sign. It went into the skin. It was under the skin? The object _was_ inside the body, he could see it pulsing there where a heart would be.

He knew he was too short to reach up but he felt like he wanted to uncover the mystery. Suddenly, the chakra pulsed stronger and travelled over the body, creating the pathways all shinobi usually had. The boy frowned and raised his head to look at the head of the body that intrigued him even more.

It looked very human like, had red hairs, pale skin.

All of a sudden its eyes opened revealing brown orbs that stared directly at him; he shrieked before jumping away.

Before he landed on the ground the back of his blue shirt was caught and raised. He was held by the same body, or dare he say person that intrigued him so much. In fear of what could this person do to him for entering the place he started to desperately wriggle in the hold while the figure stepped away from the wall and turned him a bit to take a look.

"Who are you and what are you doing here, or better yet, how did you get here." The red haired figure asked in a monotone studying the child.

The boy blinked and stopped fidgeting. "I... uh, I'm Shirushi. ...And... I was... uh, walking by?"

The unidentified figure raised a brow not knowing if he should believe it. Seriously, walking by? That excuse was lame. "Do you know where you are."

Again, the person asked without asking, that tone had no emotion whatsoever.

"Eh... I'm two floors below the level I was supposed to stay on...?"

This time the figure blinked and analyzed the child. It was too young to be ninja, not to mention a spy. It was casually clothed, had little chakra reserves, and truthfully, the only way it could get here would be only if it already was inside the building, because all things considered, the building's security was too good. And no sane person would walk into the laboratory where he and Orochimaru worked without invitation...

...

Steadily, they reached the highest floor and walked through the hall. One side of it had a row of wide and long glassy windows that let the light of the day enter inside. The figure, now covered by a black cloak with red clouds, kept a firm grip on the shirt of the boy while holding him in the air, like the boy was a cat, caught while making a big mistake. Said child had a sad pout on his face and let himself be dragged, knowing that thrashing in a hold would bring no result.

They stopped by the double, decorated doors and when it opened they entered.

Presumably, it was the main Pain's office. The first thing that could be seen because of its size was a terrace, a balcony with transparent, white curtains, leading outside where Pain loved to stand, observing his village from above. The office itself though, had little to look at, two shelves and a desk, chair, a large, decorated lamp in the centre of the ceiling... Considering the fact that this room was huge, it really was nothing.

The leader himself stood by the opening leading outside, and his back faced his visitors.

It was strange how the leader emanated with the aura of calmness while Sasori had the aura of irritation. After a short moment of silence between the men present, Sasori spoke.

"I believe this is yours, Leader-sama."

The man turned his head slightly, and his right eye became clearly seen as he looked over his shoulder. The boy squirmed a bit under his powerful gaze and mumbled something close to '...trouble, trouble'.

"How did you come to conclusion that 'it is mine', Sasori?" He asked in an even voice.

The red haired man slowly put the child on the floor, who finally on his feet, sighed with relief. Sasori glanced at the blond before speaking.

"The boy said he was from the higher floor, I am sure he's not a ninja or a spy, and I doubt any member would bring a child in here." There was a pause. Pain blinked. "And you have light hair. I deduced that this child... would have a connection to you."

In the tense silence Pain stared at puppeteer before humming grimly. Then his stare shifted onto the boy, who stubbornly and firmly stood in place, even if he was slightly cringing inside. He bore the man's silence stoically, and inwardly cursed him for being so intimidating. He wouldn't be scared if it wasn't for a fact that he went against the rules.

"You were not allowed to leave the floor without permission and supervision, Shirushi."

The boy bit his lower lip and nodded shortly. There was no point in denying the obvious.

"What were you doing in laboratory."

The boy didn't hear a difference in the man's voice but he could swear he felt it. The wrong answer could lead to severe punishment, and even though Pain wasn't his father, he was responsible for him while Shiru was here and the boy had to listen to him.

"I... uh, couldn't fight my... curiosity. Na... Pain-san," the boy stumbled in his words, remembering how he was supposed to address the leader, "there were signs and I... I just had to take a look." He mumbled the last part looking down on the floor.

Akatsuki leader narrowed his gaze at that, already having a suspicion that it could be connected to the doujutsu. He inwardly sighed, seeing that the boy was just like his father, always too curious... but while Madara could let himself satisfy his own curiosity, the boy was too young and could end up in trouble with that attitude in the future. He was silent for another minute, to make sure the boy was nervous and would think twice before doing something like that later.

"I am giving you a warning, this time."

The tension in the boy's posture left and he sighed with relief, yet Sasori became even more puzzled.

"If I may ask, who is this boy, Leader-sama?"

The man was quiet for a moment and then he turned around to look outside again as his back faced his visitors.

"He is the future member of Akatsuki."

Sasori lowered his head, accepting the answer but still somewhat confused. After all, there was no guarantee the child would reach the level of power the members were at.

"Is that because of the doujutsu?" He asked to confirm his suspicions.

"That too." Sasori frowned at what was left unrevealed. "You may go." The man dismissed them and they turned around to leave. The puppeteer added a new mystery to the list of secrets revolving around Akatsuki. "And Sasori," he stopped hearing a Leader and listened. "Satisfy his curiosity please."

The boy beamed hearing that and he droned, disgruntled about taking a role of a babysitter, but he was given no choice, and show those 'signs' he would.

* * *

A year later, Konoha

He winced again, wondering when the painkillers were going to work.

His arm, from his fingers to elbow was aching and complaining at the strain he put on it that early morning. Finally, after so much planning and studying he started to train the new, or rather, improving an old one technique. He wanted to do this before, but he essentially could not find a time. His work took everything from him to a point where he forgot when was a last time he had time for himself.

He recoiled when his hand was squeezed and heard a loud "Oh, s-sorry Hokage-sama!" From the nurse that bandaged a wound.

He was in the hospital where he was treated by the young woman who upon seeing him turned into a trembling, blushing and stuttering fan girl... He sat in a chair opposite from her, as she, clothed in white medical coat and cap tended to his hand from across a table. He could call for a more experienced doctor, using his status of a leader of the village but it seemed a bit selfish, so he agreed to be healed by a woman present in the hospital at this ungodly early hour.

He wasn't so sure now, and suspected he may regret this decision later.

"Hokage-sama must be more careful while training! J-just what were you thinking w-when you hurt your arm so badly?"

He pulled back a bit taken aback by her indignation. Wasn't it his own business what he thought and did in his own free time?

"Uh... you see..." He smiled sheepishly, "I'm creating a new technique..." He scratched the back of his head with his left hand looking utterly innocent while doing so.

"New technique or not you should _not_ go out and kill yourself on the training field!"

He shrank and squinted his eyes like a scolded puppy at her harsh tone and wondered why it was always the seemingly sweetest women that always turned out to be the most violent...

"I would g-gladly stand by Hokage-sama as he t-trains to heal him if he injures h-himself..."-She continued with hearts in her eyes (figuratively, of course) and her face flushed, while she hoped he would accept her offer. He, on the other hand, blinked at her rapid change in demeanour and sincerely replied

"That'd be too dangerous. I can't let a lady be endangered by my training!"

She huffed, and he winced when she applied a bandage a tad bit too tightly. "You need a woman's hand, Yondaime-sama. I can see you need c-care, so please, allow me to help."

He was clearly stunned by the way his eyes widened and his mouth fall agape.

"Uh, I'm afraid... I still have to refuse." He replied solemnly.

Inwardly though, he wondered for how long he would have to play oblivious and innocent.

He was too experienced in that field not to see a fan girl in any woman that tried to hide it. He _could_ declare himself untouchable or admit he was celibate, but it would be awkward... So he preferred to be nice and innocent while he declined all offers. Still, he was getting tired of trying to act nice. Some women just didn't get the hint.

He yelped and almost jumped from a chair when she pulled the bandage with force and a glint in her eye that screamed of vengeance. "No? Maybe Hokage-sama prefers ugly women that already have children?" She asked with barely concealed venom as she made a first knot that was too tight for standards. He yelped again and gritted his teeth from pain that surged through his body.

"W... what are you... talking about?" He inquired between pants, staring at her fearfully. Wasn't she supposed to be all nice and lovely?

She made a second strong knot and he felt drops of sweat appear on his forehead under the headband with protector and on his neck at the strain.

"Everybody knows that Hokage-sama frequently visits that widow, Hyuuga." She answered bitterly and he became confused. It was a first time he heard of that rumour. Where did it come from? He wasn't dating her. "What does she have that I or others don't? A child?"

He flinched at that.

She didn't notice and made a last sour knot. He saw that his arm was ready and secured on his chest, hanging on the band. He quietly thanked her and walked out with a sombre expression that confused her.

Children were a _difficult_ subject for him.

He adjusted his white mantle a bit, as it hanged loosely on his shoulders, and wondered what people of Konoha knew about his relationship with Hikari.

There really wasn't much to speak of. He visited her sometimes yes, to see how she coped with her grieve and loneliness, but surely gossipers wouldn't come to conclusions based on that? The nurse didn't seem to know he was interested in Hikari's son, Neji, more.

He recalled a day when it started. He got a mission report from Genma, a promising chuunin, who was employed by Hyuuga Hikari. It instantly got him interested and he was surprised to find that Genma received a mission to teach an academy student. The mission was approved by those who worked in a mission assignment hall as it stated that he wouldn't teach an academy student techniques above E and D rank, and wouldn't reveal things classified, as a boy was technically a civilian. The boy mentioned in report was Neji himself, and Minato was surprised Hikari would hire a private tutor for a boy, as he had tutors from the clan.

Later he found out that teachings were about weaponry, tactics and strategy. He visited the training sessions a few times and added advice here and there. He knew the boy was on a cloud nine knowing that Hokage himself aided him in training, and a part of him felt happy about it.

Another part of him was sad.

He had so much to teach, so much love to give, and he didn't have a wife or son to give it to. Sharing just a bit of it with a boy whose father died eased his pain somewhat, and he was ready to do it again, despite the warnings from Hikari, '_You shouldn't show such blatant favouritism, Hokage-sama_.', she said.

But he didn't mind, and he didn't hide. If people learned of it he would face it. Of course it wasn't normal for a village leader to pay more attention to one academy student while almost ignoring the others, but he was ready to admit he felt a bond with the young Hyuuga genius.

* * *

Ame (Rain village)

The building Akatsuki resided in was the highest tower in the village. The highest floor and the roof belonged to the official leader of the group, Pain, while all other members had their chambers and work rooms below. Konan, for instance, was right below, where she had an eye on the blonde boy, who was not supposed to be seen by other members of organization, Sasori though, for some time, was an exception; but Shiru's appearance among other members would lead to too many questions neither Pain, nor Konan were ready or willing to answer.

Somewhere lower were Orochimaru and Sasori with their laboratories, Zetsu and Kisame respectively. They planned to have more members soon, but those had to be found. Missing Nins were not tied to any village, so finding and trailing one took some time.

Not everyone knew of the cave that was just below the building.

It was large, lit by natural crystals and seals that generated light. It was humid, rough and inaccessible to those who did not know of its existence, and even then, moving around here required knowledge and memory of the scenery.

It was in these conditions that Madara observed unexplainable things.

He leaned on the slippery rock by the wall and paid attention to little details, like the way his son tilted his head, examining the water in a small pool that Shiru planned to use, or like the way he made one handed seals with each hand, calling for the water to take a shape.

The water seemed to crawl from the pool to the boy's feet, and then change its structure. With each second as it moved it became harder and sharper, forming irregular, short pillar above the ground. Irregularities on its surface became sharp edges and the pillar turned into ice.

The first time he saw the boy form ice using water and wind manipulation was shocking. He was convinced it required possessing a bloodline to do such a thing. But he was wrong, because it appeared, all that was required was 'understanding', in Shirushi's words.

Some time before he wanted to teach him the first jutsu all Uchiha learned, the fireball technique; it came as a disappointment that the boy could not learn, nor use it. The test of his chakra confirmed that the boy didn't have a fire affinity, but wind. Though, it wasn't that surprising. The village where he found the child was on the border of Wind country, and ninja of that village used many wind techniques, having wind affinity mostly, and sometimes, surprisingly earth. The boy was depressed about not managing to learn the first technique from his father, so Shiru suggested that he would try to use the technique in a different way. And just minutes later, Madara was stupefied seeing the ball of water that appeared from the boy's mouth in a stream after a sequence of seals that vaguely resembled the technique he showed.

He never fully understood what a ball of fire had in common with a ball of water, aside from their form. The seal sequence was different, chakra manipulation and amount too. How the boy could do it analyzing the things in his head was beyond him.

Sharingan let the user see the technique, analyze its appearance, details and requirements, and then copy it in the memory. Shirugan, as they started to call the boy's eyes, let him analyze the seal sequence, chakra requirements and the way the jutsu came to life, while the boy could manipulate the sequence to his own likes, changing its details, meaning, and in the end, its outcome. To put it simple, the boy created new techniques observing other jutsus, and having understanding of the nature of hand signs, which was outstanding and exceptional in its own right, in creating jutsus he was limited only with his own imagination and skills.

He had a wind affinity, but water was also easier for him to control, hence, he started to experiment, mentioning that he remembered the way his captors created ice, two years ago.

It was unbelievable, how with several lessons from Sasori about seals and the arts surrounding them, the boy succeeded to gain a full knowledge of using hand signs, and in that field, surpassed many seal masters before he learned what it was to be a ninja. He even started to correct Sasori, Nagato and him on how to use hand signs in a proper way, 'without wasting chakra, time and making unnecessary seals'.

The boy was not making seals to use chakra. He 'spoke' in a language of hand signs, effectively controlling his chakra and manipulating it in a way that let him do almost whatever he wanted. True, his reserves weren't big enough for the things he wanted to do, but he was still just a child, and his reserves would grow with time.

Madara looked up hearing a strange, sharp sound. He narrowed his eyes at the pillar of ice that was before the boy, who jumped high in the air and then Madara's eyes widened at the same time another short and abrupt sound pierced the air.

Dozens and hundreds of thin ice needles shot in different directions hitting walls, rocks and landing in the pool of water, missing both of them as Shiru knew what would happen and escaped the onslaught jumping up, while Madara was fast enough to dodge.

A second later the cave was quiet and like pieces of broken glass, pieces of shattered needles covered the ground. The cave was made of stone, so ice couldn't break it; rather, it broke upon hitting the walls. Besides, ice wasn't always as sharp and strong as metal, but nonetheless, if the target was human, meaning relatively soft, it would be injured.

Madara blinked and analyzed the level of danger the technique presented. It was at least C ranked, considering the amount of control and chakra it required, but if used properly, with a pillar of ice at least as tall as an adult, and the speed of needles at least on the chuunin level, he'd give this jutsu a B rank. It wasn't designed to kill, but to distract and stall the opponent.

His smirk was matched by the boy's bright and beaming smile.

* * *

Konoha

Minato rubbed his eyes and the base of his nose, trying to overcome his tiredness and the tug of sleep.

He didn't sleep well the previous night, bothered by the pain in his right arm, and cursed the useless painkillers. And he had to come to his office early, to do the paperwork, so his appearance wasn't bright today. His usually bright yellow hair seemed to gain a shade of grey colour, and laid flat on his head, instead of sticking out a bit; his shiny blue eyes were dim and almost hidden under heavy eyelids, while there were shadows under his eyes; the lower part of his face was bristled.

The last time he looked like this, unattended and wounded, was six years ago, after the Kyuubi attack.

He could say that he couldn't do the paperwork without right hand, but there were people around who knew that he could write with his left hand.

He grimaced at being unfortunate.

When Sarutobi suggested that they call Tsunade for help, he was surprised to find out she wasn't labelled as a missing nin. Jiraiya of course, was a different case, as he was gathering information from around the nations, and Minato cared little what his sensei did in his free time, if once in a month or two, he had a valuable report on his desk that answered all the questions. His teammate, on the other hand, caused more trouble than she was worth.

She created debts for Konoha regularly, using her insane 'unlucky stars' in gambling. She didn't have money from her clan savings, she didn't officially work as a medic, and she was not insured. When he had that talk with Sandaime, he wasn't in a best of moods, and it was one of those times he gave in to his emotions, and summoning a small toad, ordered it to deliver a message to granddaughter of Shodaime; if she didn't come back to Konoha in two months time and take responsibility for her actions as a leaf ninja, he was going to declare her a nuke nin, period.

He stamped the file lazily and moved onto the next.

Between reading and frowning, he scratched the bandages over his arm, hoping that somehow, the itching will cease with this action. He flipped two pages back and tilted his head, as ringing bells stopped his thought process.

It was a request for a dangerous A rank mission for a squad of chuunin under a jounin commander. He checked the details and it appeared to be a standard operation that entailed finding, killing, cleaning, and leaving without a trace. He recalled that he approved of several similar requests, and there wasn't anything suspicious, beside the fact that one of the chuunin was a newbie, was young, and definitely famous.

He frowned and stood up from his comfortable chair and reached the shelf with ninja profiles. His left hand expertly ran through the folders and picked the one he was suddenly very interested in.

He went back to his desk in the same lazy manner and flopped down in his chair. He ran through the pages and focused. Uchiha Itachi, rank chuunin, promoted on the last chuunin exams and known to be a promising shinobi with work ethic, skills and heart of an assassin. Has completed 23 D ranked, 10 C ranked, 3 B ranked and... in the last three months, 4 A ranked missions working in the squad.

Age 11.

Minato narrowed his eyes and reread the file.

This ninja, no, this _boy_ should not participate in these kinds of missions... Why did he agree to these before? He concentrated on his memories of the last three and four months and with a shock discovered for himself that he did not meet this squad nor did he form it himself.

It had to be formed by one of main infiltration or hunting departments, or... the council. Otherwise, he would have known.

And he wouldn't pay attention to this mission if it wasn't for the boy's, only now, familiar name.

He heard of his talents and genius just recently, which was strange. The boy did not appear before him when he worked in the mission hall, to take a mission, for example, or give a report. He did not have matters that had to be discussed with Hokage himself. Otherwise, they would have met.

It almost seemed that someone planned it especially so that they never met, for unknown reason.

Minato didn't like suspicious things.

He especially didn't like it when someone tried to fool him. Like when there were things his subordinates were quiet about; it could be rumours, it could be someone's illness, or things more important, like lies, unsuccessful missions, potential traitors among the ranks and corruption. But if there was something he truly despised, it would be traitors, those who betrayed of their own free will.

He remembered that there were several people he didn't trust but had to work with; Danzo, Koharu, Fugaku, were only few names on his list.

Something was definitely happening, and anyone of them and more could be behind it. Contradicting reports, mysterious mission failures and missing documents could be just a top of an iceberg. He was pressed to admit that whatever would come he would have to face it unprepared. He had absolutely no idea what he was looking for, or if his suspiciousness was just that, conjectures. His caution was rising over the years, but it had proved to protect him and his village.

He saw the signs of a coming inner storm, and this sudden discovery about this boy being under control of other political figures was disturbing, if not bloodcurdling.

If anything, he could trust his instincts...

He hummed rubbing his forehead, thinking what he had to do. If someone wanted to keep the Uchiha genius away from him, this someone had to keep tabs on Minato himself too. And that meant that if he suddenly called the boy into his office it would pull unknown strings and bring trouble for the boy. But he couldn't just close his eyes and pretend to not notice what was possibly taking place outside.

He was _not _Sarutobi.

No offence to the old man, but Hiruzen was too soft, too subtle and too lenient. He didn't use the power of Hokage position in a right way.

But he had his tricks.

Minato bit the inner side of his lip, thinking. He blinked, trying to remember where this thing was...

His eyes looked left and right, and for a moment he was motionless, before his good, left hand started opening drawers under his desk. He checked most of them not finding this thing... he forgot what it was called... Then his fingers pulled the last and the lowest drawer, to find it was locked. He raised his left brow and grimaced.

Now, where was the key?

He sighed, looking over his desk that was under his paperwork. He smirked, spotting a mug with pens and pencils. He grabbed it and smugly threw its contents onto the desk. There it was. A key.

He picked it up and quickly used it to open the drawer. The lock gave in and he triumphantly took out a ball made of glass. It had a little stand so he carefully put it under his gaze on it and licked his lips, concentrating.

With a little chakra burst, images appeared. He focused on different areas, and different chakra signatures; clan compounds, training grounds, market district, and maybe a tower? He shook his head, seeing the boy attend a council meeting that was just two floors below. He was looking for him and here he was, in the same building... He knew the boy was in Konoha, because he had yet to approve of the mission, but to be so close and at the same time so far? That was suspicious, suspicious...

He forced himself to remember the schedule of the council meetings of the shinobi clans of leaf and silently counted how long it would take. Also, he had to make an excuse to appear there...

Minato tapped his chin, not so lazily now, as he was motivated. A minute later he rose, hid the ball that was connected to overall Konoha security, and left his office.

When he walked down the corridor, the councilmen were leaving the chamber through the wide double doors and he walked to his main advisor with apologetic expression.

"Sandaime-sama, I know you have a tiring meeting with civilian council in a minute, but I must ask that you drop by my office after that. I promise the matter I am willing to discuss would not take too much of our precious time." Minato spoke in a serious manner, making it seem like something important has happened, but he didn't want to worry shinobi present. Hiruzen nodded resignedly, as deep within his eyes could be seen understanding. He knew that there were times Minato couldn't handle certain things; especially if those things happened without his consent. He reached for his pipe and started to fill it on the way to the next meeting he had to attend.

Minato watched him go with relief and made a show of raising his head and noticing other councilmen leaving a room. His face expressed a surprise when his gaze landed on the young, typically pale and black haired Uchiha boy that walked next to his father.

He didn't look like an assassin. He looked so young. His traditional clothing, robes in colours of the clan could not hide it. He has yet to hit his growth sprout. His skin was delicate, light and thin, making him look feminine.

And yet, his face was so emotionless, and his eyes reflected his soul, deep in turmoil.

Minato walked by, in direction of the stairs that would lead him to his office, when he looked up with a bright smile.

"Well, well, who do I see? Itachi-kun, a young and unbeaten genius just like I was in my earlier years!" The boy and his father turned to look at the leader and the boy immediately bowed, while his father gave a respectful nod. Minato continued to walk and made lively gesticulations with his left hand, among which the last one, was a move that caught the shoulders of Uchiha heir to playfully force him to move in step with Minato. "You have yet to decide which team you would like to work in; how were your teammates in the last mission? Come, come..."

The boy hid his surprise at being so casually addressed by his superior, and let the man lead the way. "Is something the matter, Hokage-sama?" He asked, glancing at the bandaged hand briefly.

Without missing a beat, Minato replied. "You worked with different teammates for the last few months, I want to know what you think. Besides, sooner or later you will have to work in the permanent, stable team; it would be wise to consider your teammates now."

The boy kept his face stoic, and entered the office with Minato in tow.

The blond man closed the doors and became calmer, as his wide smile turned small and sad. He made several hand signs with his good hand, and part of them ordered his bodyguards, who were always in shadows, to keep this meeting uninterrupted, while the rest of signs created a soundproof barrier by the walls of the room.

"I almost thought that you will not approach me, Yondaime-sama." The quiet, but at the same time, firm voice of the boy resounded off protected walls.

End of chapter 5

* * *

**A. N. **If I remember correctly, Tekuro means 'black hand'.

The technique Minato trained was Fuuton: Rasen Shuriken of course, but he has no Kyuubi to heal him, so it would take him longer than Naruto to get back to health.

Very soon there will be introduction of Akatsuki members;

I hoped you liked the inner works of doujutsu I created;-)


	6. That's a secret

**A. N. ** If anyone's wondering, **Shirugan** means '_a knowing eye_', as shiru means '_to know_', while gan is '_an orb, a sphere'_

Corrected by **Floating On An Akatsuki Cloud**

Chapter 6: that's a secret

"Oh," for a moment Minato was staggered, feeling a bit surprised, as the boy started a conversation first. He tilted his head having an impression that the boy waited for him to confront him. "You expected me to address you."

The silence that greeted him was a positive answer to his question; he watched the boy closely - his face so serious it looked strange.

"Have a seat." Minato gestured at the guest chair, as he calmly walked to sit by the desk. The black haired boy gracefully followed the order and silently waited for his leader to speak.

Minato rearranged several documents on the table languidly, before he took the seat himself. He wondered how grave things were if the young chuunin was waiting for him to intervene. He had to be aware of the fact that Minato was not included in the secrecy of the few proceedings. If that was the case, the boy was ready to reveal things he knew and was involved in. He must have been disturbed by the actions of his superiors, and to think that it took Minato so long to notice anything...

He ran his gaze imperceptibly over the small form of the boy and noted that his posture was tense, though it was hardly noticeable. The boy was sure of himself, showing he knew about the risks he was taking. Minato felt perplexed. The way the boy presented and behaved himself was not of a cornered enemy and bordered on excitement.

"Are you willing to freely answer my questions ...regardless of the topic I am willing to discuss, be it your team, missions, superiors or your clan?"

"Yes." The boy responded calmly.

Minato frowned; that attitude was not what he expected. Shouldn't he be trained to follow the orders of the clan head? Surely there are topics he had no right to talk about. Maybe it was one of those suspicious things that he was supposed to notice, and then be led to a trap... A young boy, who was ready to unravel dirty secrets in politics, would be a perfect bait to lure him. But then again, if it was true, the answer to the first question would have been different.

"Why?" He asked at last, deciding that this answer would show who he was looking at. It could be an innocent child, turned into a weapon and used for the benefit of his creators. Also, it could be a loyal soldier, who served his clan and his captains. Those who devoted their lives to be of use for their masters were the hardest to uncover and break. It pained him to think of the boy as potential enemy and a traitor, but he had no choice. In the world of ninja, nothing ever was what it seemed to be.

But as he would learn soon, the chuunin could not be placed in either category.

Uchiha Itachi was born a genius. His history said that when he opened his eyes for a first time, he was looking at his parents with knowledge and wisdom. That was of course, highly unlikely, but clansmen tended to exaggerate and turn little things into myths and legends. Nonetheless, those legends forced a young heir of the clan to have obligations. For example, everyone expected him to pass every test and exam, to be exceptional and incomparable, and each time he proved he was, he was expected to do better.

It forced him into position where he could not make choices himself, but neither could refuse what he was asked to do. After all, he had responsibilities, reputation, and, no matter how hard he tried to deny it, pride. He had his own pride, but with time, he himself was becoming a living pride of the whole clan he represented, and it was more like a duty to be the best, than his own wish. It was like he wore a mantle with a phrase 'failure is not an option', and it applied to every little thing he did, where every move he made was _a performance_.

It seemed that people around him observed his every step, willing to control him, and they waited with a bad breath for a moment when he joined them. It went so far that he couldn't look at his own family without thinking what they were hiding, what they wanted from him and what they planned. And seeing even a smallest hint of dishonesty, Itachi inwardly wondered if there was anyone he would ever fully trust. He used subtle, imperceptible ways to test people's honesty and intentions. And so far, he was disappointed with amount of greed in people.

But then, to his surprise, the most powerful man in the village was not aware. He was not involved.

They avoided him. They feared him. They kept Itachi away from him.

And then Itachi found out how much one man gave for the village. On the clan and council meetings, as the heir of the Uchiha clan, he had an opportunity to know the secrets he was not supposed to be aware of. He found out what that man sacrificed to save others. And it was more than his life, because he lost everything, and his own life became empty. That man could be desperate and reckless ...for the sake of the village. It meant that he was loyal to ideals of the first Hokage. But as history proved, he was different from all previous leaders. He was more powerful, resolved, strict but at the same time considerate and compassionate.

For Itachi, who was tired of seeing hungry creatures, the man who led the village was the perfect example of a shinobi.

So when such a simple question as 'why' was asked by the most rightful person he knew, he could only tell the truth.

"Because I trust Hokage-sama and his judgement." Before Minato could turn his head and make a sound the boy continued. "Because I am loyal to the village, not individuals who are after money and power. And because I want to make my own choices, regardless of position I am in."

They became silent and Minato tapped his chin lost in thought. The boy just broke the stereotype, and did it effortlessly.

He claimed that he was not loyal to his clan, but also not loyal to his teammates; there was even a hint, that if he deemed it right, he would not be loyal to Hokage. But whatever came he would still be loyal to the village. And even if it was a bit twisted, Minato could see logic in this, and sincerity.

The leader nodded slowly and closed his eyes before speaking. "Very well; why don't you start from beginning."

* * *

Ame

She slowly walked by the edge of the roof, looking down on the streets washed by the rain. She couldn't see faces of the people below, they were too far, but she could imagine them looking up with wonder, admiration, amazement and love.

She averted her gaze to the form of her closest friend and family. He was so serious. He was devoted to their mission so completely. Her devotion in comparison to his was shallow. She just followed him wherever he went. She fulfilled his orders without questions. And all because he knew better. So why did she doubt him when he listened to others?

"All the members are leaving tomorrow." He spoke, without a need to look behind. He always knew it was her.

She knitted her brows, and lowered her head asking quietly. "Madara is not back yet."

He was silent, and she could feel him think over the matters. He was always so mysterious, when he was quiet.

She learned to be quiet too. She learned to speak without sounds. She learned not to disturb, and knew that he appreciated that. But sometimes, she didn't know if she should keep her thoughts to herself or not. Sometimes she didn't know if he'd appreciate her doubting his decisions.

When that man appeared in their lives they didn't need him. Nagato had his own plans and could fulfil them without Madara. But that man was so persuasive. Has he learned that over the decades of manipulating others? She didn't know what to think of him. On one side, she could tell he used them and needed Nagato's powers, but on the other side, he seemed to trust them. Why else would he leave his son here with them? Even the blind man would notice that Madara cared for the boy, no matter how often he disappeared. It was easy to see when he bandaged the boy's ankles and wrists with tenderness, before the training or after he hurt himself, or when he hoisted him off the ground in embrace coming back from his travels. If anything ever happened to Shiru, she didn't want to know what Madara would do.

"He is not." Pain agreed, finally breaking the silence.

The situation was complicated, because someone _had_ to stay with the boy ...or leave with him.

Nagato made a noise at the back of his throat, wondering who could be trusted with keeping an eye on the child. He and Konan were not an option, as they travelled too fast, in the air, and he didn't even want to mention that he couldn't let the boy see his true appearance or... a better word would be, appearances.

But all other members were not less secretive. Nagato grimaced remembering that Zetsu was keen on cannibalism; Orochimaru was keen on experiments concerning bloodlines, Kisame on slaughtering, and Sasori... on perfecting his immortality?

The puppeteer seemed like the sanest choice at the moment, even though he was paired with Orochimaru. Besides, he already knew of the boy and his tendencies, so it was safe to assume that Sasori would be prepared to look after the blond.

He knew that it would be better if Madara took his son himself, but in all probability, the man was too far away to be found and contacted. Too bad, he wouldn't know where all members were if he found the building empty, and since he couldn't reveal himself to the half of them, he would be forced to wait or find him and Konan.

"Will we leave Shiru in Sasori's care?" She quietly asked, and he smirked, pleased that she came to the same conclusion.

...

The yellow and slated eyes glared at the small black object in the right hand. The gaze pierced the innocent piece of unknown material but nothing happened. It did not react.

Of course it didn't.

It was not alive to be affected by one of the Sannin's fury.

He knew he must've looked like an idiot staring at the thing for God knows how long, but after days and weeks of studying it with no actual achievement he was lost for ideas.

He was fuming with... with shame. Days ago he'd claim to be the greatest scientist in elemental nations, but today he wasn't so sure. When Leader gave the material to him and his partner for studying and finding a way of communication between the members of organization he was puzzled but assumed it'd be a piece of cake. Now he regarded it as a challenge, because he couldn't understand the mechanism this thing worked with. One thing he knew for sure, it was blood. Other than that, he knew that it disrupted chakra flow and let the Leader read the mind of anyone whose chakra came in contact with it. Still, with so many clues he was barely able to understand it.

He played with the object while waiting outside of the tower.

Thankfully, today it was not raining, and white fluffy clouds spread out in the sky, effectively hiding the sun and making the village look bluish, which seemed just right. Hearing the steps from behind him, he turned around and raised a brow at the exterior Sasori chose for himself. He seemed to be short in height, and wide in his form, while Akatsuki cloak covered his body, and a black garment covered the lower part of his face. The strands of hairs were black, and overall, the form was disgusting, in Orochimaru's opinion. Why would he hide himself inside that puppet was beyond him, but it wasn't his business. The form of his partner seemed to crawl in his direction, while right behind it he spotted a small form of the child.

His eyebrows shot up at that and he did a double take.

This promised to be a start of an interesting journey.

He pocketed the black item and waited for a pair to reach him. He's seen the little blonde boy before, in passing, but never close enough to see if there was anything special about him. Now though, they had a joint travel it seemed.

Sasori didn't even look up walking by him, but spoke in a different voice loud enough for him to hear the threatening note in it.

"Shirushi is our responsibility for the current time; he is the future member of our organization so I suggest you think twice before doing something stupid."

He interpreted it as a threat, because doing something stupid meant treating him as experiment subject. Responsibility over the boy clearly meant that they were to be babysitters. But he also heard a personal threat from Sasori. Maybe he knew the boy longer than him?

He looked down at the blond, who tilted his head in a wonder, and Orochimaru's eyes widened seeing a perplexing violet mystery, decorated with a circle shaped array of irregular dots.

The boy frowned up at him, and taking an uncertain step aside, followed Sasori without a word. Orochimaru noted that he was in simple blue t-shirt and black pants, black sandals and a black coat over his small form. So, in the future he'd wear a red clouded cloak? What was Leader thinking? And a blond? He hated blonds...

* * *

Konoha, early morning

Every minute was important.

Each moment they spent together was precious.

It was a treasure because they were together so rarely.

The bangs of black hair shifted with the wind, as red, piercing eyes narrowed in concentration.

He observed every little detail in body movements. The way hands seemed to flow, and fingers seemed to play, as Itachi threw the weapon, and then, as he pressed two chosen fingers to his lips, blowing not the air but flames, aggressive and destructive, like the wrath of nature itself. There was so much grace and precision.

With a small smirk at the corner of his brother's mouth, he caught the arrogance, but it wasn't wicked, rather, teasing. Seeing his own weapons still imbedded in the spot where they landed, farther from the centre than he'd like, made him pout.

Itachi was always better.

He made an arrogant face, trying to copy his brother's, but all the effect was lost when he scratched his rear.

He strode then to the target and gathered his projectiles, cursing under his breath that he couldn't just copy the way his brother did it with one look.

Itachi observed him with a stoic expression, behaving like a perfect soldier, but only because he mastered the art of hiding his emotions in the last two years. Without that ability, he'd be laughing loudly at the boy who wanted to be serious so badly. Sasuke wasn't good at being serious.

When the younger brother took the stance for throwing and furrowed his brows in attentiveness, he looked even less intimidating, or dangerous. Maybe it was his small form, or his pressed lips, or even his white shorts, but whatever it was, it made Sasuke look exactly like a boy trying to look like a ninja.

The weapon was thrown, and there was a dull thud in the small distance, as it flew by the target, utterly missing it.

The boy sulked and his hands fell with a dramatic sigh. He lost all focus while trying to mimic some stupid stance.

"Maybe you don't try hard enough?" The older brother taunted in a cryptic tone, to which the boy looked up at him with a glare.

From behind a tree, the man in a black cloak with a hood widely smiled. These Uchiha were just funny. One was a genius that liked to annoy and irritate his sibling, while the other was young, naive and trusty.

Madara remembered the past of the Uchiha clan, where was no time for games or teasing. All members were soldiers, and any feelings towards family or outsiders were ignored. Now though, times were different. Shinobi were not scared of their emotions and sentiments. More often than not, it was said that emotions made shinobi a better person; they proved that ninja were human beings. He wondered if it also made this generation stronger because of that, or weaker...

* * *

River Country

The soil of River country was soggy, so leaving the traces on its surface was unavoidable; especially when someone dragged a heavy load.

Orochimaru lazily strolled down the path, ignoring, or trying to ignore everything around him. His right hand held the collar of a body, while the said corpse was dragged on the ground, leaving deep lines after its feet. The body belonged to a male, tall and muscled, who undoubtedly was a shinobi, but you couldn't say more, as for the most part, it was covered in blood.

The travellers paid it no mind.

There was also the second body, and the shorter male pulled it after himself with a seemingly bored expression.

Sasori, in his short but bulked form, looked smaller and older than the body he tugged, but he continued to move forward without actual effort. Sometimes Orochimaru wondered if Sasori in fact forgot that he held something.

The second body was equally bloodied.

Surely it would be easier to behead them and be done with it.

But they'd get more money for the full, intact bodies that were important for some studies, and they needed money. Akatsuki had different tasks; information and money gathering were only part of it. They would capture jinchuuriki later. For resealing the demons they needed more members.

"...I asked you to wait a bit and let me observe didn't I? How am I supposed to learn anything if you finish them in, like, a minute? You could be a bit more considerate, ne?" The blonde boy ranted adding his hands for an effect.

For the members to communicate and have an access to the statue that will be consuming the bijuu, they needed to work around the material the Leader supplied them with. Orochimaru was more than sure that secret lied in chakra flow. If only he knew more about seals...

"-and then that guy was just ready to use a lightning jutsu! I almost saw it! And that sequence was a long one too!" The boy continued, and the snake user scowled, as his thoughts were interrupted again. He made such a fuss over losing the chance to see some random shinobi dying longer? Or he just wanted to see a flashy battle? Wasn't he revolted at the sight of blood and dead bodies?

"...I rarely get to see anything above average jutsu!"

The faster they killed the quieter the job was done, and they could move onto the next target. Now that he thought of it, Mist was known for silent killing skills, but then again, Kisame didn't look like the silent type, even though his sword Samehada was the perfect weapon for fast and silent murder, as it ate the opponent's chakra, and left deadly wounds.

"...next time I will have to distract you or stand in a way, I'll get to see more action then..."

The tallest traveller gritted his teeth in irritation and glanced at his partner, to see if he was annoyed on the same level.

Sasori was unmoved. He continued to slowly crawl, though it should be rather called an amble. His features, what was seen of it anyways, were unmarred. He was, in all probability, bored.

The left temple on the pale face twitched. He was the only one affected. And the child just continued his tirade.

"Boy," he spoke, silencing the blond for a moment. "If all you want is to see a lightning jutsu then I'll show you one."

The boy beamed at that. "For real?"

The man glared ahead of him with a scowl. "Yes, on one condition, though."

The child perked up at this and waited for him to continue, giving him an attentive glance.

"Be quiet."

Thin blond brows shot up with the widening of the eyes and a moment later the boy turned his look back on the road ahead, and then silence reigned between the three.

Orochimaru blinked, surprised that it actually worked...

...

It was a miracle no one paid them attention as they walked through the maze of narrow alleys in the small town. The reason might be that it was raining, and people tended to keep their gaze down while they ran for the shelter. If they bothered to look up they might have noticed that the trio stood out against the rest of the picture. Not only were they looking strange and dragging corpses after them, but they also walked deliberately slowly, not minding the weather or anything that was on their way.

Almost all civilians were safely hidden inside their homes, taverns and shops. Those few who still ran to their destination were in a hurry, so even if they saw the strangers, they preferred to get away as fast as possible, to avoid trouble and unnecessary attention from those individuals.

All of it only seemed to go unnoticed by Sasori, who's partly covered face expressed boredom, by Orochimaru, who eerily smiled, or by the blonde boy, who glared at his feet, where his sandals were dirtied by the mud, making him feel uncomfortable. In reality, they kept most of their attention to surroundings, knowing that it was easier to hide in a crowd, than keep to the shadows.

Their destination was a place that Orochimaru and Shirushi have never been to, and for now was known only to Sasori. The bounty station, as shinobi referred to it, was not something publicly mentioned. True, there were many in every country and continent, but without connections to the network of bounty workers, be it a job in ANBU squad, permission from the bounty officer or any other source, it was highly unlikely you'd find a place on your own.

The hunched and wide figure of Sasori entered through the insipid door and with raised eyebrows, his companions followed him.

Even if the blood on the dead bodies had time to dry, the rain fixed that and they left long crimson stains as Akatsuki members pulled them across the floor. The water did not wash the odour that accompanied corpses and the six year old grimaced feeling it full force, now that they walked through the narrow corridor. The boy also noted that there was no light and no one really lived here. Was the building abandoned? Sasori opened yet another door, and suddenly, the boy was assaulted by the strange, but pleasing smell.

From the room could be heard loud noises and clangs, and could be seen light and the steam. Confused, the boy tilted his head and followed the men.

What they entered could only be described as the kitchen. People in the white aprons worked by the tables, and cooked wordlessly. Most of them had black hair, and were squint-eyed. The room was white in colour, and utensils were made of steel. Few of the cooks gave them side glances but they didn't question their presence, and neither reacted.

The boy wanted to follow the smell that with each second proved to be more and more delicious, but he didn't want to lose the pair from his sight, so he begrudgingly strolled after them.

When they stopped by the wide, metal doors, the boy blinked. Sasori knocked several times in a rhythm, making a dulled clinking sound. For a minute they were silent and frowning, before it opened to reveal a bald man with thick black eyebrows and moustache. He had a scar that started on his forehead and went across his cheek, sparing the eye. He was clothed in the grey pants and grey short sleeved shirt, covered with white apron like the workers in the kitchen, and from behind him, the flow of the cold air seemed to crash into the waiting trio.

The boy felt a shiver run over his skin and it made him grimace. Was that a big deep-freezer? These people surely knew where to hide corpses...

"Sasori-san, I am glad to see you, you are with some companions?" The man ran with his gaze over the faces of the trio and the forms of the bodies. For a longer moment his eyes lingered on the small boy.

"Don't mind their presence, Zangei, you can trust them. This, as you've probably already realized, is Orochimaru of the Sannin, and the boy isn't someone you should worry about." The puppet user answered in the monotone, while Orochimaru patiently waited for the conversation to end.

The man seemed to be hesitant for a minute, but then he sighed and opened the door wider for them to enter.

Inside the room, very cold and clear, stooping slightly over the steel made slab, another man was counting money. The bald man ignored him and pulled out of the metal shelves two more empty slabs. The room looked like a morgue. The boy's never been to one but if he'd have to guess, the place would be similar.

Unceremoniously, Sasori almost threw the bloody load under Zangei's nose, but the man did not complain. He arranged the limbs in the way that seemed more presentable and spoke in a careless tone.

"Seiteki of Kumo, jounin rank," Orochimaru lazily laid the second body on another slab, "and his student, Yonaki, chuunin. Both of them were missing nins from Cloud. The reward for their bodies was upped to 21 million ryo in the last month." The man walked to the back of the room and prepared the case with money for his guests.

The man counting money put all the cash into the case and closed it with satisfaction. He had a strange helm shaped garment covering his head and face, leaving in the open only his green eyes. His arms though, were uncovered, and anyone else would find them startling. There were stitches that seemingly sewed body parts to each other. For Orochimaru who constantly worked over intact and cut flesh and Sasori who recreated his own body, this was nothing new, for the boy though, it was worthy of his attention. So he openly stared and studied the man's appearance.

The said man turned around to leave, when he abruptly stopped, catching the face of one of the present men. His gaze narrowed and he made a step aside to look from the better angle. The trio became aware of his attention and he lowered his head a bit to speak.

"Orochimaru, the missing nin of Konohagakure; I wonder which country would pay more for your dead body."

In the silence that formed after that sentence Zangei came back with the case that he placed in front of his lasting client, who hid behind a shell of a puppet. "No fighting inside the building, gentlemen. Thank you for the exchange." With that he turned on his heel and started to work on the bodies.

The men ignored him and opted to stare each other up and down. The monotone voice cut the tense air emotionlessly, as Sasori collected the case, not bothering to count the riches. "Kakuzu of the Waterfall, one of the oldest shinobi in history, still in the business I see."

"I wouldn't want to offend but I am not aware of your identity, either way, I believe one of the Sannin would not be in a company of unknown, weak and worthless shinobi. In worthless I imply also useless and bountiless. "

They blinked at his little confession and he continued. "Let's take this outside."

"Great! I finally get to see some fighting!" The child beamed with little fists in the air. The cloaks wearing shinobi ignored him, while Kakuzu looked down confused. He thought the boy worked for Zangei or was here by some unexplainable accident, but it looked like he was travelling with the pair. His behaviour wasn't ordinary either.

"Are you sure you can take on both of us?" The snake summoner inquired, smiling in an eerie way. He already anticipated the good and long fight; he missed some of these in the last few months.

"Yes he can!" The blond shouted, nodding vigorously in excitement. "He has five hearts and five affinities, and a serious amount of chakra! That'd be enough to keep you on your toes, Hebi-san!"

The Akatsuki pair raised their brows at the vital information and tilted their heads in curiosity, while at the same time, the man with a case in his hand frowned down at the child stupefied. Where did they get the information from? No, those two seemed to be unaware of these facts before. He has never _seen_ the blond before, but was it possible for him to know that much just by meeting him once, and without fighting him? He was at the disadvantage. And disadvantage often meant that he had less chances of winning, now though, he had fewer chances to survive, since the pair, no trio, knew now how many times he could come back to life.

The pair in red clouded cloaks looked like they were ready to make the first move so he hastily made a step back and raised his hands in a placating manner. "Wait a minute. Let's discuss this."

The boy had widened eyes and was openly gaping. A moment later he looked clearly frustrated that instead of fighting the man decided to discuss things. This made Kakuzu even more confused.

Sasori sighed and moved for the door. "Very well. Let us discuss it."

Orochimaru looked amused by the scene and the boy quickly gave his attention to the figure crawling out, shouting. "Over the food?" He asked, referring to the arrangements of the conversation that was about to take place.

Inside his puppet, unseen to the rest of the world, Sasori made an unhappy, sorrowful grimace at the thought that the boy wanted to eat at the place like this. Didn't it come to his mind that the food could be made of the corpses, like _every other_ child would think it was?

"Fine." The former sand shinobi muttered and everyone followed.

After passing empty and dirty rooms and corridors they entered the room where the food from the kitchen was served and settled themselves by the empty table. Sasori and Kakuzu placed the cases by their seats, making sure that money were still in their line of vision.

The dark haired, short in height waitress felt the building tension in the air and quickly placed on their table menus, almost jumping away as she finished.

The older shinobi didn't even look down on it, not to mention pick it; Sasori didn't need food whatsoever, having an artificial body; Orochimaru was just not hungry, he wouldn't eat what they served anyway, as he didn't trust such places, and Kakuzu wasn't really in the mood. His life and money were threatened, and eating was not on his mind at the moment. The boy though, picked the offered list with bright joy, and nodding with energy called for the frightened woman. She timidly walked closer to listen what he'd order.

"Something hot, steamy and salty please. The weather is so foul today!"

Kakuzu stared down at the third member of the group in front of him. If it wasn't for his predicament, he'd be questioning the boy's sanity. What a little child was doing with a pair of criminals? It certainly didn't look like it belonged to any of them. Furthermore, the blond looked too snug in their presence to be used or/and kidnapped.

The boy though, no matter how smart and insightful he proved to be, was not a danger to him physically; the pair in the cloaks was a different story. He could, theoretically, take down one of the Sannin, knowing what he could expect from him, as he gathered information about his arsenal of techniques-_summoning, clones, forbidden techniques_, - his affinities-_earth_- and preferred styles-_swordsmanship_- and tactics-_play hide and seek and attack the prey when it is the least expecting it or weaken it with a poison before making a final strike_- in the last several years. His companion though, he knew nothing about, or it seemed as this. The mysteries in shinobi life led to surprises, and surprises led to death. He wasn't sure if he was ready to find out just who travelled with the snake summoner. What he was sure of though, was that he did not plan to fight both of them, uncovering more of his abilities to them without a guarantee it would be worth it and he would learn about them more in return.

It would be essential for his future to get rid of the threat. Obviously, he couldn't attack them straightforwardly. He had to wait for a right moment to act. But the way they kept their attention on him and the way their eyes smiled as if they could read his mind and already knew his plans were pointless, made him less enthusiastic about battling shinobi that could possibly defeat him. He was greedy? Yes. Careless? Yes. Rude? That too. Arrogant? Yes, _but _he had boundaries. He knew when to stop and admit he wasn't ready.

The waitress nervously got near their table and placed the ordered dish, a steaming bowl smelling vaguely familiar to Orochimaru, in front of Shirushi. He gratefully smiled at her and inhaled the smell. A second later his expression was of pure bliss, and with a thrilled 'itadakimasu' he broke the chopsticks apart and took a mouthful of the thing.

A moment later the boy made a delighted sound and the men by the table observed him from the corners of their eyes, curious about his reaction to the food that couldn't be good, considering the business this place was about. Nonetheless, not a moment later the blond engulfed the contents of the bowl with gusto and with a grin matching a spark in his orbs, asked the trembling woman for more.

* * *

A day later, Ame

With a soft sigh, in a swirl deforming the air, Madara reappeared in Ame. He dramatically turned around on his heel and faced the tower.

His feet steadily moved in its direction as he ignored the cold wind that played with the fabric of his cape. His steps echoed off the nearest buildings as he walked confidently. A moment later, he was entering and moving to the highest floors. It was a bit strange that no one passed him yet, not that he would be seen in such case. The place seemed unnaturally quiet. Wasn't anyone staying indoors to work? He shook his head using shunshin to quickly appear inside the office where he was met with the same silence.

He momentarily froze and then tipped his head in confusion.

Where was Pain? Surely he wouldn't leave this place so suddenly? Did they _move_ without him knowing? Was he absent long enough for such changes to occur?

The man grasped the edge of his hood, covering his face, with the fingers of his right hand and pulled it back. The few strands of his dark spiky hair fell on his face and he looked around once more, before scowling and walking out into the corridor. He strained his ears and in a fast pace descended to the floor below, using stairs.

The rooms were empty.

He hastily opened the door to his son's room to find it empty too. Where were they? He turned to the shelves and threw them open.

The boy's possessions were still there. If he went somewhere, he was planning to be back. But that didn't mean Madara wanted him anywhere outside of the tower. He left him with Nagato responsible for his safety, but it didn't mean the man could take the boy wherever he wanted.

With a sudden realization that the boy wasn't necessarily by Pain himself Madara angrily hit the wall with his fist. The impact did not destroy it, but neither did it rid him of his frustration. He focused on the ring eyed man and his chakra, transferring himself to his presence while concealing his appearance with a slight genjutsu.

Agonizing moment later, he found himself in a cave, bigger and wider than the one in the Rain village, and saw Nagato concentrating on controlling his chakra, as he was situated in device, or machine, that helped his body movements as his original, weak, thin and pale body was not suited for the life of shinobi. Looking around he noted that he could not find the chakra signatures of other shinobi. No one was around, except for Nagato himself. He stepped in front of him, facing him with a threatening glare.

He waited for Nagato to look up and return the gaze. He noted that despite his unhealthy state, the thinness of his body and lack of movement, his eyes were bright and powerful, proving once again, that one could become a God no matter what obstacles stood in the way.

"Where is he?"he asked, sharply and coldly, not wanting to hear explanations or reasons. Right then the time was of essence, and he didn't care how and why the boy was not here.

The man exhaled, muttering one name that brought him relief, and at the same time alertness. "Sasori."

No matter how much he trusted the puppeteer, he would never trust his partner. Regardless of the fact that both of them were scientists, there was always something off and creepy about the pale, sneaky man, even in comparison to Madara himself.

He narrowed his red eyes and hummed in thought. Nagato observed him without expressing any emotions, and it looked like the older man forgot for a moment where he was. Right before his ringed eyes, he was slowly pacing and tapping his chin.

Madara thought it was good that he learned how to appear by the specific person by knowing their chakra in the last two years, after the incident that took the life of Shiru's caretaker. But he couldn't just waltz into the picture under the pretence of taking his son. To the pair, his identity was unknown. And he wanted to keep it that way, but how to go about it? If he disguised himself and appeared before them they would be attacking him the moment he got too close, and they would not let him step near the boy.

With a sudden inspiration he jerked his head up and transferred himself back to headquarters. There he proceeded to rummage in one of the storage rooms. At last, he pulled out what happened to be an Akatsuki cloak. Not wasting any time, he discarded his black one that had a hood and put it on. Coming to realisation that he had to cover his face he went still for a minute, before thoughtfully walking out and making circles in the building, looking for remotely anything that could be used in that aspect.

In the end, after passing different materials and ideas, parts of Sasori's puppets included, he found something that seemed suiting.

He knew that Konan liked to work with paper and making little beautiful things, like flowers and objects that had a shape of animals. Also, she liked to draw masks. He picked what seemed to be an unfinished work and examined it. It was dark brown, without holes for mouth and eyes yet, and it had black lines, reminding of flames, that went from its right side to the left. He smirked. All that this piece of art needed was a little addition.

He used his chakra to create a fine scalpel at his fingertips and with morbid precision drew a hole for his right eye. He checked it through and examined it under different angles, wondering if he should add another hole that should match it, but decided against it. It would leave his enemies and co-workers puzzled about his identity even more, if they thought that he had only one eye. He nodded to himself with that thought and put it on, at last feeling that his individuality was safe. He still wasn't sure what the pair of missing nin would think of him but frankly, he did not care.

He tipped his head unsure of how he should introduce himself, but then he remembered the best answer to the questions you did not feel like responding to. _'That's a secret.'_

Shirushi often used that with a smile on his face.

* * *

River country

They travelled again, without a load for now, but in all honesty, Orochimaru would have gladly left the blond boy in Zangei's freezer and continue dragging the corpse, than having to listen to the boy's complaints.

The twitch above his temple was gradually growing with every word the boy said. He doubted the child forgot about their deal, and was almost sure the boy waited for him to do something to make him quiet again. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to actually show him something? Maybe he'd be too busy trying to learn it for the next day or more and stay quiet.

The morning sun was softly lighting the way as they walked the path through the grove. The scenery was too boring for the child that always had too much energy. Now that he thought of it, he was practically sure why he disliked the boy on some level. The realisation came to him yesterday by the table they chose after meeting Kakuzu, shinobi with five hearts. The scent of the food the boy so enjoyably consumed was always the scent that accompanied Namikaze Minato. It was the smell of the dish known as ramen. The blond man had an unnatural love for that cheap food. It didn't stop him from being powerful though. And he hated that man, for being a genius, for being loved by so many, and for becoming Hokage.

If that boy had blue eyes he would be ready to try and corroborate that he was Minato's son. And Orochimaru knew that the man had one. It was relatively well kept secret of Konoha and he was always amused by the fact. Not only did that man lose his wife on that fateful day, but he lost his son too. Everyone who had a moderately good spy network would know that he sealed the Kyuubi and hid it very well, but in the chaos the village was in his son was kidnapped and he hadn't found him till this day. Now though, the boy reminded him of the man a lot, but he was sure it had nothing to do with Namikaze, because the boy had a bloodline, and that meant that his parents had to have it too, so this line of parentage was highly unlikely.

"...even Konan-san is more interesting to hang around than you two, at least she tries to teach me something and is not so creepy! You on the other hand, think of gruesome things only!"

For better or worse, they let Kakuzu walk away unscathed, and he promised to think over their offer to join the organization. With the words money and criminal group, he became more interested in their business, and it almost seemed that he needed only a slight push before he came to them asking for a job. The suggestion was made by Sasori of course, as he had a boundlessly logical mind that said that powerful shinobi must work together. Whatever decision Kakuzu will come to though, the chance of good fight was lost, and Orochimaru couldn't help but share a bit of complaints the boy made.

"...walking around doing nothing is so boring! Is that a life of true ninja? I thought it's about adventures and missions!"

He loudly sighed and stopped.

Two steps later, his companions stopped too. Sasori looked at him questioningly from the corner of his eye, while the boy looked up in a similar manner, with a hope added above it.

He raised his hands and pulled higher the sleeves. "I am showing it only once. You will pay attention and then you'll stop whining and shouting. I have enough of the headache."

"Orochimaru..." Sasori quietly called, but the pale man ignored him.

He made the seals without hurrying and then he directed his left palm at the nearby tree. A bolt of lightning quickly struck and made deep cuts that formed a hole in the bark. A moment later he lowered his hand and the tree broke in that place and fell, with a vapour lifting off its remnants.

The boy's eyes were huge in awe and it was Sasori's turn to sigh.

"So chakra must become static and be immediately released, thanks to that the user of the technique does not suffer from burns. Also it must gain in sharpness and speed, awesome!"

The pale man frowned and looked at his partner. Sasori gave him a look that said 'I warned you.' The boy started making the hand seals and he opened his mouth to protest or warn that his first trial would be futile.

He could not hide the surprise that was seen on his face when the child clasped his hands together after the strange sequence of two and one handed seals and then unclasped them and between his palms was seen the small orb of lightning that the boy studied with a slightly crazed look.

For his part, Orochimaru was confused. The display of skill meant that the boy had a lightning affinity or used the similar techniques before.

The boy pouted. "I can't make it bigger..."

The hunched figure of Sasori resumed walking. "Chakra reserves." He reminded, ignoring his companions.

The boy wordlessly took his example and continuing observing his technique strolled forward. Left behind, Orochimaru realised he wasn't aware of something. Now though, he had an idea why the boy was so important for organization; besides seeing chakra and its network he must have had some special abilities that interested the Leader. Knowing that there was even more to this child than it previously seemed, he vowed to find out what it was. Sasori seemed to know more, but he would never speak of things that were irrelevant to the mission. With an evil smirk on his lips, he followed behind them, keeping his attention on the blond.

"It's true; you'll have to expand your reserves if you want to use any technique higher than a C-rank." He hinted, waiting for the reaction from the boy.

Not turning around to meet his gaze, Shiru replied. "Yeah, but Lightning is not my affinity."

The boy glanced at the pale man with mischievous grin and started making yet another set of hand seals. Curious about what the child planned, the snake user got closer and waited for the outcome.

"My true specialty is wind." The blond proclaimed with a wide and pride smile, and Orochimaru watched as the boy directed his palms in front of him and there was a strong gust of wind, accompanied by thin bolts of lightning. A second later though, the boy stopped as he saw the outline of the figure on their path.

The trio stopped by each other's side and stared forward with furrowed brows that indicated their puzzlement, Shiru's though, was with addition of annoyance.

"Watch it please; you wouldn't want to hu-u-rt me, ri-i-ght?" The pleading voice called out and a masked face slid from behind one of the trees. The trio blinked at this. The figure, in what appeared to be an Akatsuki cloak, walked out in the open and waved his hand, partly in a greeting, and partly in front of their confused faces. "Hello-o-o-o! I am Tobi-i-i-i! The yubinnin of our organization! Nice to meet ya!"

The pale slated eyed man pulled away, feeling confused by the strange man even more after hearing his voice. Sasori tried his best to ignore the new character, while the boy just raised his brows and opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"I see you got my package!" The man shouted with his index finger pointing at the blond. The pair of scientists looked in between them and before they could react the boy was in the masked man's hold. Both of them noted that he had only one hole for an eye, the right one. "See ya later!"

Then his appearance started to swirl, and then quickly disappeared leaving nothing behind.

Orochimaru narrowed his gaze, wondering why he felt so strange all of a sudden. An image of the blond teenager that had a wide grin matching the smile of his white haired perverted sensei formed before his eyes. It was a day that the blond challenged him knowing that out of the three, he was the strongest. He never admitted to it, but they fought on even ground, and he was ashamed of it, because the brat was just a chuunin then. He recalled that moment, when Minato was taking a stance with one palm facing him, and the other forming a seal, as he exclaimed with finality, '_I may be the seal master, Orochimaru-san, but my true speciality.. - he smiled playfully, -is wind.'_

Jiraiya was a witness of their fight and was extremely proud of his student, even though Orochimaru won in their brutal spar; probably because it took all of Orochimaru's most powerful techniques and tactics to overpower the teen. They did not speak of it later and the fight stayed in between the three of them.

Sooner than later, the teen became a jounin, and he quickly stopped being boisterous and sure of his capabilities. He learned the taste of defeat then, the meaning of political games but still had this innocence that all shinobi, sooner or later, lost. And somehow, this memory made the snake summoner think deeper over the fact that this boy and Minato had too many similarities...

Two weeks later Konan and Pain saw Madara again and the woman gave him a silent glare, seeing his face covered with her unfinished project. He only shrugged then, unable to answer her wisely and reasonably. She did not comment on it then and the occurrence seemed forgotten, but he knew that sooner or later it'd come to bite him back.

* * *

_'Yubinnin'- a courier ninja._


	7. Games

Edited by **Floating** **On** **An** **Akatsuki** **Cloud**

"Speech."

_Emphasis on the word_ _or flashback_

* * *

_Inspiration source:** 'The flat of the blade'** by Massive Attack_

* * *

Chapter 7: Games

_Four months later, Konoha, afternoon_

The sounds of whispers were too low to hear, to catch the words, so all he could do was observe. The way the pair looked at each other was too innocent for his liking, but he marvelled at the sight of the blushes that adorned their faces. They sat on the sofa side by side, slightly touching their hands, and they seemed to speak of the private subject, as they were secretive and almost intimate.

Jiraiya made notes and perversely giggled, imagining them in other positions.

The blond man sheepishly smiled as the woman looked like she was thanking him, and Jiraiya couldn't feel more proud. He almost thought that Minato would never open up again, staying forever closed inside his own shell after the tragedy. But as always, the brat managed to surprise him, and here he was, perched on the railing outside of the Hokage office, watching through the window as the two loving birds were sharing shy smiles.

The choice of the woman was by all means questionable, as she was _not_ younger than Minato, and by Jiraiya's standards the woman _had to_ be younger than a man. Tsunade was an exception of course, as even in her age she looked younger than the pervert himself... Another disturbing thing was her social position, not only was she a widow with a son, but she used to be the wife of the branch house clan head. She was pretty, that was true, but not overly so, though, all of this did not matter if she could make Minato happy.

It has been over six years, and all of this time the blond has neglected himself, turning into the working machine. This woman and her child brought the old Minato back. He started to smile more and even looked like he was born again.

No one could help him before... not the Sandaime, not Kakashi, not him and certainly not his tiring office job. He was still too lonely. Now though, he was even cheerful sometimes.

He wrote something in his notes again and his sixth sense was telling him that if the pair did not kiss soon, the world would end.

He blinked and glanced at the village below. There was some noise and shouting. From the corner behind Jiraiya an ANBU guard stepped forward and stooped to have a better look. Both of them stayed quiet and observed as the crowd of villagers parted to reveal a blonde woman with large breasts, and she had a dark haired companion with a pig in her arms.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Or in this case, she.

What was Tsunade doing here? Taking a closer look at her he realised she was enraged. Jiraiya glanced back at the pair in the office and wondered if his teammate was marching here.

As if she could read his mind, the femme fatale looked up at the tower balcony and locked her eyes with the white haired man. His expression was surprised so she decided to act before he could save her target.

Fisting her hands she ran to the tower wall. Not wasting any time she hit it with all of her might and wanting to make the earthquake even bigger, she added an enhanced kick there.

The tremors in the ground and the building could be felt and heard through the entire village.

The ANBU that carelessly stood on the edge before was now hanging with one hand on the railing, praying for being spared by the crazy woman. Tsunade though, caught the sight of the white hairs disappearing behind the shaken roof of the tower. She cursed and quickly took off her shoe, before throwing it in direction of her running, former teammate. If the loud yelp a second later was any indication, she hit the mark.

With faces red as tomato, Minato and Hikari untangled themselves from the heap they fell into on the floor.

The furniture in the office had changed its positions, but despite that, carefully crawling on the floor, the blond easily navigated through the small chaos to the balcony, where he glanced at the worried guard, and then frowning, hurriedly moved to the railing and a bit over it, to find the source of the disturbance. He tentatively looked down.

There she was.

In all her glory.

Hell has no wrath like a woman scorned. And if he remembered correctly, he was the reason she was so mad.

She narrowed her gaze at the mop of blonde hair above the railing and gritted her teeth.

"Who do you think you are?" She shouted and noticed with satisfaction that her voice caused him to momentarily flinch.

He blinked, and then mumbled. "I am the Yondaime Hokage." His whisper went unheard and she glared up with murder in her eyes. He almost shrank in himself. "...old hag..."

She squeezed her hands so hard her knuckles turned white. "Don't you even dare to think of running away." She quietly threatened, knowing that even without hearing her with this distance he could still read her lips; she quickly entered the building, as people on her way moved aside, terrified of her power.

He stumbled back and smiled sheepishly at the woman that just a minute before was his guest. "I apologize, but I think I have to handle this matter personally."

She gulped and wordlessly nodded.

One of the guards appeared by Hikari and nodded to the leader as he placed his hand on her shoulder. They disappeared in swirl of green leaves.

"Namikaze!"

There was a shout coming from outside of the office and the blond winced. Minato nervously fixed his clothes, glad that he could face Tsunade in his full power. The bandages of his right hand had been taken off just a month ago, and if the need arose, he could defend himself with both taijutsu and ninjutsu.

He tried to pay no mind to the sounds of disarray behind the doors and inwardly wondered if at least one shinobi would stand by his side when he faced the woman's wrath. For now all his subordinates hid themselves believing that Minato was the only one who could stop her. They of course didn't think for a moment how hard it could be for him to fight the teammate of his sensei, an older person with their own tragedy, and on top of all that, a gorgeous woman that was an inspiration for hundreds and thousands of perverts...

The doors flew off the hinges and the office shook as she slowly stepped closer. He considered backing away but stubbornly stood his ground and noticed that she almost bared her teeth like a big cat that planned to push the mouse into a corner.

He wondered if he should start to behave like a barking dog, to gain control over the situation. It didn't help that he always looked at Tsunade like the long lost aunt that had a tendency to appear on his doorstep once in a decade. He put himself together and hardened his resolve, which turned his gaze into icy glare.

"There's no need to be so aggressive, Tsunade-san." He spoke diplomatically. She cut him off, stopping her advance in the centre of the room.

"Just who do you think you are? Who gave you a right to decide if I do belong or not to this village?"

He blinked once. Then he rubbed his nose speaking. "That right is given to me with my title."

Taking a step to his right he pulled his desk, to adjust its position in the office, and then lifted up his chair, placing it where it should always be.

While he busied himself with these actions, she stared at him in shock. The little brat spoke to her like it was _her_ who committed a crime.

"When it becomes public knowledge people will not understand; Konoha would be more happy if I came back here, not if I am the target of bounty collectors." She smirked evilly, taking another route.

"The people of this village wouldn't be happy to know that with their money we pay for your debts." He sat in his chair and smirked back, accepting her game. Who wouldn't play with Tsunade? She always lost, no matter what game she played.

"You know perfectly well why I left this village and never planned to come back." She reminded him sternly, not understanding how he could be so calm while facing her.

"It's been what, ten years? You're not fighting your tragedy anymore, Tsunade-san, you're fighting your fears ...and stubbornness."

Her face took on the angry expression, her scowl deepened and she leaned forward. "Do you want to see what I truly plan to fight?"

He quietly sighed, looking down. She couldn't beat him with words so she thought she could beat him with fists. "I doubt you can win with this mindset."

"You wanna bet?" She asked without missing a beat.

_...You wanna bet?_

_...Want to make a bet?_

_...a bet?_

_...Flashback, about 5 years ago_

_Each time he entered the house he forced his mouth shut, because almost automatically he was ready to say 'Tadaima'. He forced himself to remember that no one would hear him. _

_Each time he entered the bedroom he forced his eyes away, because his rationality was telling him that the room was empty, but for some reason, his feelings were fooling him telling to look, to make sure, that she was not there. And despite the knowledge that she was not there, he still looked up to glance at the bed they once shared, the balcony, where she could overlook the garden, the chair before the mirror, where she looked to make sure she fixed her hair, and the bathroom door, which from she walked out in a green towel, her favourite one._

_And only after he was sure that he was alone, he let himself to breathe, to sigh, to grieve, and sometimes, to cry. _

_Since she was, no, _they_, were gone, he felt like he wasn't himself anymore. Like he lived in someone else's body, that worked, fought, thought and acted on its own. _

_He leaned back on the bed and closed his eyes, wishing that he wouldn't open them anymore. He really didn't want to fight any longer. _

_Who was he? A man with no purpose to live. He might have fooled the village and his closest people that he was fine, that he continued to be the responsible leader, shinobi and man. But he could not fool himself. Those who lied to themselves had it better. If you fooled yourself it was the same as to fool the whole world. After all, you couldn't be telling a lie if you believed what you said. You could not commit a sin if you believed you were doing something righteous. _

_He forced himself to always see the difference between truths and lies, to know where he stood. Now he regretted it, because if he could he'd make himself believe everything in his life was ...fine._

_He considered ending it once and for all. But every suspicious movement meant that his guards would appear by his side and stop him. _

_He abruptly opened his eyes. He saw the white ceiling of his bedroom. _

_Since when have his protectors become the walls around him? Didn't he view them as his subordinates anymore? Was he that desperate to get away from his own life?_

_He analyzed himself and came to conclusion that he certainly reached the stage where his thoughts and actions could turn dangerous; for his surroundings. _

_He sat up and covered his face with his palms._

_If Kushina saw him like this she'd beat the shit out of him._

_Why did he keep on reassuring himself that the way he behaved was important for his memories of Kushina? Each time he felt he was close to doing something stupid he asked himself if she would have appreciated this. For the last two years it stopped him. _

_But tonight he was too tired._

_He was too tired to ask her, too tired to fight himself, too tired to do anything other than drowning in his own self pity._

_And the constant thought that he was watched by the squad that instead of protecting him from his outside enemies was ready to protect him from his own hands was aggravating._

_His palms slowly slid down his face and he tiredly strolled to the bathroom. He absently remembered that tonight his guarding squad consisted of experienced ANBU, among which was only one bloodline wielder, and he could not see through walls, like the Hyuuga. _

_He closed the door, turning the light on. _

_Taking off the jounin vest he looked into the mirror. _

_He already looked like he was dead. _

_Maybe if he tried a little, had a taste, he'd finally come to a decision? _

_He shook his head and let the cold water run. He splashed his face, feeling that he was going insane. _

_Maybe it would wake him up?_

_He gritted his teeth not knowing if he was holding back a scream or a curse._

_Or it might put him to the restful, endless sleep._

_His face became red and a sweat started to cover his forehead. He didn't know if it was anger or fear._

_Thoughts were swirling in his mind and it was almost as if he wasn't alone in this body, and one part of him wanted to be awake, and the other wanted to sleep. The strangest thing was that he didn't know which part of him was real, or which part was him. And if there was the other, then why it was there? _

_Was he only imagining that he was going insane? Maybe he exaggerated and his state of mind was ordinary for a person that lived alone and fought his inner demons._

_All of it was only making him even more tired._

_He held his breath and scowled, abruptly biting his right thumb and smearing it on his left wrist. A single three sided kunai popped in his hand and he quickly cut across the left wrist, barely mindful of his actions._

_Was it curiosity? Was it tiredness?_

_He was looking down, observing his hand, studying it with a cold gaze, as the blood was flowing out, right from under the skin, into the sink below. _

_He simply let it flow._

_The questions though, still kept on coming. Should he cut the other too? Should he feel pain, feel that he turned insane, or that he was just stupid?_

_The pain should have given him at least some sort of relief, some sort of answer, but instead, it gave him nothing._

_He quietly sighed and looked up at his reflection. It stared back at him with boredom. Was he bored of himself? Maybe that was the next stage?_

_Dejectedly, he opened a small drawer above the mirror and took out a roll of bandages. Then he wrapped it around his wrist, carelessly, and finishing the action, got back to looking at himself._

_With both of his hands he leaned on the sink and gave himself a glare._

_"Now you're acting stupid." He spoke aloud, accusingly, berating his reflection. "You're stronger than that, aren't you, Minato?"_

_He noticed that in his glimmering blue eyes surfaced a tinge of hope. "You can be sane again, if you want to. All you need is to force yourself." He continued to speak aloud to himself and then nodded. "That's right; I think you'll make a full recovery in half a year, wanna make a bet...?"..._

_End of flashback_

She stared deeply into his gaze, noticing that for a moment there was a flash of recognition, she didn't know what emotion accompanied it though. And then, just like it never happened, he stared back, but his posture was calmer, and for some reason, she couldn't look at him like he was a brat. He seemed older. His lips moved and she heard his soft voice, different from the one he used moments ago.

"We make bets not to prove ourselves to someone else, but to prove something to ourselves."

It took her a bit longer to register the meaning of the words, and if it wasn't for the manner he voiced them in, she'd have considered herself insulted. He rather sounded like he spoke from his own experience.

He paid no mind to her puzzled expression. He remembered the expression on the Sandaime's face when the man noticed the bandaged wrist. The old man's gaze very slowly turned to the other hand, and he imperceptibly sighed in relief, seeing that it was untouched. His face though, expressed that he was still weary. Similar reaction came from other people he knew, but not even a single one of them voiced their thoughts. All of them were quiet, opting to give him warning, pitying and understanding glances instead.

As if they knew.

Huffing, Tsunade turned to the left and forcefully grabbed a guest chair. She pushed it to the desk and flopped down, taking off her one remaining shoe a moment later. Minato raised his brows noticing the absence of the other feet garment, but did not voice his concern.

In the formed silence she stared at him expectantly.

Not one to stay quiet for eternity, he asked with a tilt of a head. "Yes?"

Her lip deformed in distaste. "Well, you're the ruler here, tell me what we shall do."

"Oh, if only she would speak to me that way..."

Both of the blonds turned to the doorframe where a hunched, uncertain hermit stood holding in his hand a black, high heeled shoe. "I'd have at least two hundred ways to reply to that..."

Suffice to say, it wasn't the wisest thing Jiraiya said in the presence of the Slug princess.

_That_ beating he would remember till the rest of his days.

* * *

_Ame_

When his father said that he'll be allowed to see one of the most important things for Akatsuki, he did not expect to find out it was hidden in one of the caves under the tower.

With the darkness surrounding them, and the sound of the dripping water accompanying the sounds of their steps, they walked through the labyrinth of paths created by the water sources under the surface of the earth.

His father's one uncovered eye behind the mask gleamed in the gloom, making Shiru feel somewhat uncomfortable. He wondered if his own eyes would make anyone unsettled.

He felt the chill of the place and grimaced, tightening his knee length black cloak around him. Madara glanced down at him, as they walked side by side.

He did not make complaints. Usually he'd say something annoying aloud, but when his dad spoke to him in the morning he felt a bit of tension behind the topic. It felt like some crucial, significant secret was about to be revealed to him. In times like this, as rare as they were, he opted to stay humourless and keep his behaviour more mature like.

They were closer to the bigger room, if the slight echo he heard meant anything. He felt nervous.

Madara didn't say what he would see, only that it was important, and that he and Nagato hoped and almost expected him to see things that they had missed.

The gloved hand landed on his shoulder and they stopped. In front of them the narrow passage ended with the wide entrance to the biggest part of the cave. He wondered if the gesture meant that his dad noticed that he was scared, but he instead believed that his father's small gesture was a reassurance; however it did not stop him from having shivers run down his spine at the realisation that they were almost there. Being this close to whatever this was he was supposed to see, he felt lightheaded, and strangely, he wasn't sure if he was affected by the tension, anticipation or uncertainty anymore.

Slowly they moved forward.

It was the first time he felt so weary about something he didn't know a thing of. Usually he was ready to discover, to learn and to find new things. He was always so eager before, so why did he hesitate, walking forward but keeping his gaze on the ground? He was afraid to look up. There was something inside of him, telling him that he might not like what he saw.

It was surprising how out of nowhere his consciousness was giving him suggestions. It made him want to avoid confrontation with this something or... this someone. He wasn't sure if it was a thing or a person.

"We're here." His father spoke. He heard his low voice from afar, even though he knew that his dad was right beside him.

Maybe it was because of the strange sensation in his mind, making him dizzy.

Apprehensively, he stopped and let his gaze travel upward.

The place didn't have much light, so anything his gaze landed upon, was barely seen unless it had chakra, which in turn would make everything glow with bright, different colours no matter if he looked at it with the light of the day, or the shadow of the night.

The sinister red, dark brown and black colours of energy called for his attention, and with a foreboding feeling in the pit of his stomach he graced it with his gaze.

What he saw first was a glowing chain, enormous chain, but then, seeing hands, he understood that it were handcuffs.

His temples were painfully pulsing against his skull; he hasn't seen everything yet and he was already affected somehow?

Then he saw a giant head, and its face. There were... nine closed eyes. Why did this figure look like it was suffering?

Why did _his _head hurt seeing those closed eyes?

Were those eyes closed really? Before his eyes flashed an image of the red circle, inside of it black rings with commas were slowly swirling. This orb was the eye... why did it resemble the eye of his father...?

He felt the rising pressure in his head and loud whispers.

It was only whispers, so why did it hurt?

He raised his hands to his ears to block the noise and closed his eyes tightly.

Why couldn't he put away this image? Something was wrong with this statue... it wasn't just a thing...

He had an impression this statue was calling him.

Ten...

It kept repeating in his head... Ten... It was hungry. It was calling. It was so loud, so impatient.

It was sealed.

His head hurt.

"Out of here." He whispered.

His body stumbled back, but he didn't feel it, as he didn't feel the hands catching him from behind.

He wasn't looking anymore, but the strange image did not go away, the giant red spinning eye was still looking at him from above, making him feel uneasy, scared. He shut his eyes tighter, and pressed his palms harder to his ears, but he did not notice the difference, it was still hurting. He could not run away. But he wanted to.

"Away." He whispered again, but it was more like a moan. He didn't hear himself; he wasn't sure if he was still standing or if he was lying with his back on the ground. His whole world was spinning and escaping from under his feet, from his attentiveness and awareness. He didn't want to continue hearing or feeling, because he felt too overwhelmed. He did not care if his wish to run away was a sign of cowardice, because he knew he wouldn't stand such pain anymore, knew that he could barely form a thought...

Madara shook the little body of his son, trying to bring him back to his senses, but the boy continued to mumble incoherently and feverishly, as if he was in a painful trance.

Quickly realizing that the statue had this strange effect on him, the man transported them away.

They reappeared in the room that belonged to Shiru, and he placed the boy on the bed, seeing that the grimace was still disturbingly there, on his face. And then, after calling his name countless of times, he ran the quick diagnosis, trying to find the source of the problem.

It was in the boy's mind, heavily connected to activity in his eyes. The chakra was different there, unordinary, and it scared the man who did not expect this outcome. He was confused.

The boy made an anguish filled sound, curling in himself and burying his head in his knees, and Madara had to still his body with his arms, stopping him from hurting himself. Using force he pulled his knees and head tightly held by palms, apart. Having no other choice but to act quickly, he used one of the few medical techniques he knew, and put the boy into a forced sleep.

Panting, rather in a worry than exhaustion, moments later he observed as even in sleep, Shirushi was tense, rigid, and his brows and lips were creasing.

He swallowed and his eyes ran over the small form of the boy, before he stood up and left to get someone who could understand what took place, and fix it.

* * *

_Forests of Fire country, late evening_

With unreachable speed, figures moved by branches, among the trees. They left no traces and could not be seen by untrained eye.

There were four of them, moving in line. The fourth figure reached the third. They continued to jump. It seemed the group existed separately from surroundings.

They were clothed in black. Their faces were covered by masks. Each of them had a different one, and aside from the colour of their hair, it was the only thing that distinguished them from each other, as their clothing and weaponry were almost the same.

The mask of the fourth figure was that of the leopard, with spots decorating it profoundly. Its colours were dark brown and black. The rim of the eye slits was white.

The mask of the third figure was that of the wolf.

It was dark grey, and surprisingly, seemed to portray the old and lonely traveller.

The sound of leaves full branches shifting in the wind became a whistle in the ears, but the moving figures silently ignored the nature around.

The fourth figure spoke to the third without turning his head away from the view ahead. "We've got rid of the whole family, even the infants." The voice was almost monotone, but what little emotion was there, made it sound casual and alarmingly joyful.

The third figure was quiet. There was no acknowledgement of hearing his partner think aloud.

The fourth figure glanced at the blank, grey mask, trying to catch at least the glimpse of emotion that should have flickered in the eyes. To him, the person beside him was a riddle. No matter how often leopard looked at that mask knowing whose face was behind it, he could not help but feel like it was a hunter, one with instincts to fight alone and instincts to fight in a group. It always reminded him that ninja with this character were independent, and chose their battles themselves. And probably that was a reason why his assignment was to keep an eye on the wolf, and it didn't matter if the wolf was on the mission or inside village walls. Some hunters had potential to become independent, self sufficient, and then completely detached. In the world of shinobi those who didn't need others were a threat, because power gave authority, and authority gave influence. And when numerous figures fought for having a bigger and greater influence, every new threat was quickly eliminated.

Wolf was young, and he was aware of his position, but not quite. His astounding growth and progress stirred the peace of many; too many.

"...I didn't think you'd be capable of such a dirty job. Hokage-sama asked specifically to keep the children alive, but the captain's orders were different." The leopard continued, glancing with red eyes at the ninja moving by his side.

The silence stretched, and the fourth traveller was ready to give up and move to the back of formation, but the wolf answered, coldly and lifelessly.

"Yondaime-sama gives orders to the commanders of the missions. We receive orders from our captains. It is not our place to question the orders of our superior, when he's in the field with us, and Hokage is in his office miles away."

There was a snort from the leopard and his smile, though not seen, was easily felt in the air. The man with the spotted mask could not look under the mask of the wolf though, so he didn't see the conflicting emotions there; he could not look him in the eyes, as the wolf was always looking ahead.

But still, the leopard knew that no matter how hard one tried to seem emotionless, there was always something inside, something that all shinobi try to hide. The problem was, that he had no idea what the wolf was hiding. His apparent coldness and willingness to follow orders of his superiors was commendable, but was it truly all there was to his nature and inner thoughts? "..._You're puzzling, my friend. I know that you're capable of caring, but you dare not show it while on missions. It's like you become an entirely different person. Is it because you want to impress your comrades and peers? Or maybe you plan to impress the captain and move farther? Either way, you become a dangerous weapon. Who has control over you? Your clan, your beliefs, or someone else? I start to regret ever agreeing to become your shadow. I feel that I know you less than ever before..."_

Inwardly, the fourth figure sighed, doing all in his might to keep his thoughts and reactions to himself, after all, he too, had an image to portray.

The second, grey haired figure glanced behind, and the glimpse of the right side of the mask gave a hint it was a dog, white and accented by red.

The leopard ignored it and whispered. "Your father will be proud of you."

The wolf's emotionless tone replied. "I do what has to be done. What my father thinks does not matter, Shisui."

The dog masked shinobi ignored them, giving a private space to the rest of squad members, but he had a good hearing, and what he heard was not pleasant. Not only had the mission taken unnecessary lives, but it also placed the members in questionable position to make decisions. He had no respect for the captain and considered voicing his opinions, but knew that right now, when he was so close to becoming a captain himself and forming his own squad, he did not need preventable obstacles. Besides, once he was in position to make decisions, he could take other ANBU members with him.

One more time, with calculating yet narrowed gaze, he glanced at the pair behind him.

* * *

_Ame_

If they asked him to look at the statue again, he'd refuse.

If for that he'd have to admit that he was scared of it, he'd do it. Because he did not think he would ever be ready to face it again.

He didn't tell them that he had a feeling this statue knew him. It'd be too strange.

The boy knew that there was _something _sealed though, and this knowledge scared him even more. And it wasn't because he feared what was inside of it; he did not care what 'ten' meant, what _really _scared him was the familiarity.

If he would have to place it in words, he'd say that the statue wanted to consume him. Its eye watched him, eyed him like he was prey, and there was excitement, like it had waited for him to come. And he just knew that if it wasn't for handcuffs and a powerful seal over that monster, he'd land in the far greater and deeper troubles than he had experience with before.

After the occurrence he woke up to be questioned and examined by his small family, consisting of his father, Nagato and Konan. He was ashamed of his actions, as he kept half of the truth to himself.

He never expected to have so many secrets.

Sighing with a pout the blond padded to the bathroom. Tentatively, he turned the light on and moved to the mirror.

He placed a small chair to stand on, as he was not tall enough to reach the mirror or the sink properly.

He didn't want anyone to know, but at that moment he was afraid. The silence mocked him and he inwardly wondered once again if he was a coward; after all he was afraid of his own reflection.

Blinking, he slowly raised his gaze and looked at his face. It was framed with blond strands of hairs, the longest of which now reached his shoulders.

He saw his own eyes and instantly interpretations assaulted him, as it always happened when he saw a sign.

_Something was sealed there._

Someone has put something inside of his head, inside his eyes. The design showed that his body would slowly consume it, and it showed that no one would be able to unseal it. More so, that something was _alive_, and if he died, this thing would die with him.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer and explanation to that, because every assumption he came to so far, had terrified him.

Now that he thought of it, his father had no idea about his eyes. Or did he? He was always curious about every little thing Shiru said. It seemed like Shiru was a puzzle for him. If he knew at least as much as the boy knew, he would be attempting unsealing whatever was sealed inside.

He knew his father well enough, to know what to expect from the man who had to satisfy his curiosity and find an answer to every question he had on daily basis. He knew, because in that aspect they were very much alike.

Keeping this a secret was a right decision. It would be better if no one knew. Besides, it wasn't like he was the only one having secrets. Everyone he knew had one, even his father and Konan, who never lied, but did not say everything that was on their minds either...

* * *

_Konoha, the office room in the department of information gathering and interrogation_

The expression on the blonde man's face was one of hurt.

His gaze was filled with pain and sorrow, directed at him and Itachi felt like the Yondaime was seeing _him_ as the one who was harmed.

It was strange.

He knew that Hokage would _not_ view his actions as righteous. He knew that his behaviour could break the trust between them. But he didn't expect the man to _pity_ him. Was his heart weak? Did Hokage think that he was innocent and had to be saved? Because that look was telling as much.

"I did that to make sure the clan would not become suspicious of me. My record is perfect, if I suddenly turned against my superior, it would complicate too many things." He voiced. Why did he feel like he had to justify his actions? He sure did not feel that he was wrong.

With that same look the blond graced the desk and then, with his elbows on it he covered his face with his palms. His skin was turning red, but it was hard to distinguish if it was from anger, some sort of embarrassment or anything else. Nonetheless, Itachi knew that the emotion the man felt was loathing, toward the situation, the mission, the squad, and, above all, _self_ loathing. Most probably, the man could not forgive himself for letting that happen.

Among shinobi ranks, it was well known that the Yondaime had a soft spot, a weakness for children. He made it specifically clear, that no matter how dire the mission became, shinobi could not attack, fight and kill helpless kids.

Many ninja ignored that order, claiming that a kid from the academy had ability to fight and to kill civilians; they also claimed that they didn't want children of their targets growing into adults and coming for revenge in the future. Therefore, shinobi continued eliminating every threat, and if the target was a clan or a family, they cut the throat of an infant, a toddler or a teen without batting an eyelid.

From what he already heard, the captain of the squad was stripped off his rank and severely punished, while the members were questioned by Namikaze himself. But who gave the information? The report was meant to be written and given by commander, and the man would not say a word of their act of cruelty. He himself was questioned now, and if the Hokage didn't already know, he'd have stayed quiet about it too. Shisui, who spilled the blood with well hidden, conflicting emotions in his eyes, wouldn't admit it even under torture.

And that left the vice captain, Hatake Kakashi.

No matter what the rumours about a ruthless one eyed shinobi said, he wasn't just a code and a blade. And as it appeared, he wasn't just a duty and respect.

"I want you to understand that there's more to being human. You may think that sacrificing your humanity and lives of the few innocents in the end will save hundreds, but believe me, if you can't protect even one innocent life, how can you protect two, and if you can't protect five, how can you protect a dozen?" The man spoke without looking up. He uncovered his face and looked at the recently promoted chuunin with a tired, but full of understanding expression.

The blond man saw that Itachi was lost, and after searching his gaze for another moment, sighed. "Life is about making choices. I know it from experience. And I know some choices are hard to make, but I want you to learn and understand, that your superior is not always right." Here the man smiled sadly, "And that goes for me too."

"Do you plan to transfer me again, Hokage-sama?" The teen asked, noticing the new direction of conversation. The last time it happened, he was transferred with Shisui, as both of them were close friends and worked well with each other. But that of course, was not all true.

Minato tapped his chin thoughtfully, staring at the ceiling, as his thoughts reeled with possibilities. "Do you still suspect that Shisui was ordered to spy on you?" The man inquired mumbling. Previously, they decided to let Shisui tag along, hoping to keep Uchiha clan oblivious to Itachi's allegiances. So far, no one suspected Itachi to be anything more than an heir of the clan that was a cold, well trained shinobi.

"I am sure of it, and lately, he also tries to work out my trustworthiness. I do not think that keeping him close any longer would benefit our cause." The teen voiced his opinion and continued to observe as the strongest man in the village stared at the ceiling of the bare, windowless office while childishly tapping his lips.

"You are right, but..." Here Minato finally turned his gaze at Itachi and smiled knowingly, making the Uchiha heir almost fidget in his seat. "If Fugaku and clan elders realize they cannot supervise you and keep track of your movements with Shisui's help, they'd find another source of information, and this time, it could be anyone."

The man sighed with his eyes closed and was quiet for a minute. Itachi got an impression that the man was lost in his own world in the moments like these. "Isn't it better to let them believe that they know you and everything you do, than wake them from their peaceful sleep and give them a chance to place another, new, unknown spy in the group of people surrounding you?"

Itachi blinked, realizing that he wouldn't escape his family anyway. But he didn't say aloud that he preferred a new spy in place of Shisui, than continue playing the game of cat and mouse with his friend.

* * *

_Ame_

As always, the caves were cold and humid, darker than the outside world, but he paid no mind to this, as he silently waited. In his hand was his mask with one eye hole, and he distracted himself, studying it in detail.

Madara contemplatively paced by the foxes that surrounded his son, and hoped that his plan worked in his favour.

One small, bright red fox sat by the boy on the ground and holding a brush dipped in the bowl of prepared ink in its mouth was drawing a tattoo design on the boy's left wrist. Other two, light orange, sat nearby, and were observing the process with their heads tilted.

He summoned them according to the deal he made through Hanare.

The boy himself sat on the ground, watching the proceedings of creating a contract with curiosity. He was quite surprised when his father so suddenly informed him about having a contract with animals, and foxes no less. They were cute, fluffy, and had a glint in their eyes telling him they were very smart. It was strange that they ignored his father and behaved almost hostilely toward him, but he didn't ask questions, his father would tell him all he needed to know.

The boy furrowed his brows, thinking about the coming month he'd be spending in the company of summons. It was a bit sudden for him and he wondered if there was more to him leaving. Maybe his dad had important things to do and wanted to make sure he was safe?

His gaze occasionally travelled to his silent father, wondering what the man was thinking about that made him so nervous and restless. He could say that his father was plotting something, but as he could not read minds, he had a hard time guessing the man's intentions.

If Madara was correct in his assumptions and planning, he would change his son harmlessly and imperceptibly.

The boy was still just a child, treating the world of shinobi like it was a game, and running away from things he was scared of. He did not treat his training seriously nor did he understand the importance of the role he would play in the organization.

Even Nagato knew that Shiru revealed only half of what happened when he faced the statue, and the way the boy kept quiet about things that were meant to be said both irritated and worried Madara.

So the tactic Madara chose was simple.

At first he would send him with the clan of foxes to their territory in the world of summons; it would help the boy get over his shock at seeing the Demon Statue and distract him from his life involving Akatsuki. The summons promised to teach him and protect him, and inwardly the man hoped they would not try to turn Shirushi against him.

That was just a first step of his plan, and once the boy was back, he would carefully proceed with the next...

* * *

_A short time later, Konoha_

Not in a hurry, or in the mood to socialize with other people, Itachi slowly walked in direction of the district, alone, opting to go through the training ground he remembered using sometime before he became a chuunin.

The conversation he had with the Yondaime was still heavily on his mind and he unwillingly started to ask himself questions. Like why what he thought was always different from what he was doing.

He couldn't remember when it started, but since he could remember, he always knew that if he said aloud what he thought, people would not accept it. They would not accept his opinion of things, his wish to stay away from the blood of battles, his mistrust to family members, his distaste and disgust of politics. He created his shell of himself for them, to make them believe, that he was just like them. He could not share with his truths with anyone, even his younger brother, who seemed so pure and yet, was slowly becoming a puppet in the hands of their father. The man so wisely pushed Sasuke away, to make him crave for his attention more; and the boy was crossing the limits of his abilities to please the man.

And in his lonely dark world he found a ray of light, someone, who gave him a shimmer of hope; someone who was above the fuss, the filth, the rumours, deception and lies; someone stronger, wiser and more experienced.

Finally there was someone he didn't have to deceive, and could show his true face to. The man was giving him new views, ideals, truths and reasons, but he did not let him out of his mask, and Itachi was forced to be someone else, wherever he was, whatever he was doing outside of that office, and outside of his thoughts. And only in his thoughts he was free.

Maybe that was why he was appalled with idea of someone gaining access to his thoughts. Yamanaka clan was known for their ability to manage such a thing and he never wanted its members to become his enemies. But even so, a carefully placed genjutsu of the highest calibre from Uchiha could be just as dangerous.

Never before, since he became a spy, was he so thankful for the skill to easily detect and break illusions.

"You do not look like you're in a hurry to get back home. Why is it so?" The voice spoke from above, and Itachi stopped.

He knew that he was observed and followed for some time, but did not expect his stalker to reveal himself. _Here we go._ The teen tilted his head to look behind and above his shoulder with his crimson eyes, to see a man sitting happily on the tree branch. He wiggled his legs in a strangely hyperactiv_e _manner, staring down at him. His clothing was dark, with only things worth mentioning being a black cloak with red, _puffy _clouds, and a mask, dark brown with black lines, and _suspiciously,_ one hole for an eye.

When he did not reply the man made some gesticulations and continued, as if it dawned upon him. "Oh, maybe you do not practically want to be there? Is your family a burden to you, Itachi?"

The teen narrowed his gaze, trying to put the voice, mannerisms or a physical build of the man somewhere, but came up with nothing. He saw this man for a first time, and it was strange that he hadn't met this shinobi, from this village, even once. _Assuming_ that he was from Konoha, of course, but who would infiltrate the village to announce their presence in such a way?

The man's words finally reached him and Itachi frowned. "Who are you?"

The man laughed joyfully and then moved his index finger in deviation. "No, no, no, you can't ask questions like that! First you have to answer mine!"

For a reason unknown, Itachi felt annoyed.

"Oh? Is that a famous Uchiha glare I see?" The man singed the sentence, clearly showing that he didn't care if his attitude would threaten his life.

The teen stayed quiet, disturbed by the strange rules of the conversation and irritated with the man's behaviour. He was not in the mood to play a game with words and he would not answer the questions of some stranger.

"You're no fun!" The masked man seemed to pout and leaned his head on the palm of his right hand. "I wanted to play and you ruined my day!"

Suspicious of the man, Itachi narrowed his eyes and wondered if he could just walk away. He didn't know who it was and could ignore him, but still, what if it was a trespasser? And then, if he was, why show himself?

"You're so confused by me, while you have to be confused about yourself. Why do you spy on your own clan, hmmm?" The man inquired in a tone that sounded like he smiled beneath the mask, but all his friendly manners did not stop Itachi from widening his eyes and freezing in shock. "You'd think that the heir of the clan would be more careful about betraying anyone, but I guess, you're still too young and too weak to manage that."

"What do you mean, since when do you follow me?" The teen regained control over his voice but his insides were in turmoil. He took a fighting stance, prepared to battle, but it did not affect the stranger, he continued to lazily sit on the tree.

"You don't have to worry about me getting involved, my allegiance is to me only," the man tilted his head. "I am just an observer."

Straightening and slowly lowering his hands, Itachi frowned at the man, but realized that he was not in the danger, not yet; nonetheless, he was ready to defend himself if the man decided to attack. "What do you want?"

"Questions again? You don't play fa-air..." The man sighed dramatically and then leaned down and placed his right hand to the lower part of his mask, as if he tried to cover his mouth while whispering. The teen watched his antics trying to hide his emotions behind a stoic face. "I want to tell you a secret." The man whispered. Dramatically again, as if he played a childish game, the man looked around, as if making sure no one was around to hear them.

A moment later he repeated the action with his whispering manner and Itachi unwillingly listened with attention. "Did you know that to obtain the next level of Sharingan you have to kill your best friend?"

For a moment the world around Itachi turned deadly silent, and all he could hear was his wildly beating heart, and a minute later, the quiet, and mad laughing from the unknown man.

* * *

**A. N. **I want you to remember that Itachi is not the missing nin you all know from the original manga. He's young, influenced by Yondaime, and I do not plan to keep him _entirely_ in character.


	8. Dirtied white, the dance in the shadows

**A. N. Thank Yous** and hugs to everyone who believes and supports this story!Keep on doing it!

Edited by **Floating** **On** **An** **Akatsuki** **Cloud**

"Speech."

_Emphasis on the word_ _or flashback_

Chapter 8: Dirtied white, the dance in the shadows

Thinking about orange, fluffy animals and the world they came from he imagined that they lived in the untamed wild. Maybe he'd see them living in the holes underground or living on the trees, or they could arrange their living conditions in caves.

The forest of outstandingly high trees did not surprise him.

The houses made of the spaces between the roots were charming, exciting, but still predictable.

But the ruins of what seemed to be an ancient city that was built above and under the ground? This made him blink owlishly quite a few times.

It was very old in his opinion, and he could practically see that the forest almost consumed the place. He didn't think that it was built by animals. It looked like people built it and lived there, as there were stone blocks, stairs here and there, corridors and entrances leading somewhere. Most of what was left above the ground was destroyed, but he was convinced he could find rooms and halls without windows below.

Foxes just ignored all of it and lived how they pleased in this environment, not minding the little fact that people might lived there before.

The concept of the summoning realm was confusing for the blond. He expected it to be the world of demons or other creatures that was inaccessible to humans. But now that he had a little proof that animals were not the only ones to exist here he wanted to think over other possibilities.

Surely summoners would not build the whole city in the foreign realm?

He remembered that he didn't ask if there were other summoners beside his father before. But given the hint that there weren't many in a history as the whole, he suspected that there were few, if none, at the moment.

Glancing around him, he estimated that it was a morning, while he left his home around the time evening came. Rays of light reached the ground through the thick leaves and branches of the trees that were a major part of this world, and deep shadows of the ruins only added to the mystery of the place. He hoped to get the glance of some proof of human work, like inscriptions or figures in stone.

With small steps, he followed the small red fox that supposedly led him to some elder of the clan. He grinned at the wriggling tail with black tip and wondered how he knew that it was expression of excitement... Maybe he knew it in the same way he knew when people lied? His eyes must have interpreted the body language. It explained why he could detect that the body did not work in synchrony with the mind. He was simply getting different signals from speech and body movements of the person.

All around them other clan members halted in their activities and were curiously scrutinizing him. They were not surprised by his presence so he assumed that they were well informed about his arrival. And he felt that they were measuring him with their eyes, especially the older group. He stroked the skin of his left wrist with fingers of his right hand, still feeling the freshly made design pulse with energy. The pattern was of short and long red swirls and of black strokes reminding him of claws. The seal supposedly worked with the blood sacrifice, confirmation and the burst of chakra; the more chakra the summoned animal possessed, the bigger chakra sacrifice would be. That was why shinobi had to be at least equal in power with his strongest contract representative; the powerful animal would not help a weaker human in battle, because by their laws, they could not fight side by side with unworthy summoner.

The little fox entered the room that seemed to be built in the base of the largest tree in area, where walls were made of roots that like serpents, continued to surround the trunk up and down. The entrance was a chink that if not for Shirushi's small frame, would be too small for him to walk through.

First thing he paid attention to was a mid in form, white fox, that was lying on the stack of some plants that gave off the strangest of smells. The fur though cutely white, was sparse which let the onlookers see that the animal was a bit too thin, and it was a proof that the animal was older than any other he's seen before. Most curiously, he noticed the energy around it was different from chakra, though it was hard to say in what way. Shinobi had energy in colour that suited their nature and personality. This energy though, seemed to have a source other than the white fox.

"Tou, elder-sama, the boy is here." The red fox muttered hitting the ground with a tail. The elder was rolled on his soft bed and seemed to be asleep. When for a minute or two there was no reply, the red animal hit the elder with a tail, successfully making the old and legendary wise fox wake up.

"What is it?" Tou asked opening the maw, and Shiru could count the teeth on the fingers of his hand.

The little fox grimaced in irritation. "You wanted to see our new summoner, Tou-sama."

"You know as well as I do that my sight is too poor to see, Kikai-chan." The elder replied with a smile.

The blond looked into the eyes and indeed, they were rather dimly blue and did not look in any direction.

"I am Migarui; your hearing is as bad." The red coloured fox mumbled something under the breath, probably cursing old men and their inability to recognize family members. The blond raised a brow at the exchange and had to admit he did not expect this.

"Ah, true, true, so, Madara-chan has an apprentice then?" The elder asked and changed his position to get more comfortable on his bed. Shiru looked around and realized that besides some plants, beads, shiny pendants and burning incenses there wasn't anything worthy of attention. From the corner of his eye he saw the eerie smile on his guide's face, and it confused him.

"No, he hasn't. Shirushi is his son."

The elder was frowning and visibly straining his ear. "I didn't hear it right or you're greatly and fundamentally mistaken. This boy does not feel like Uchiha."

Migarui glanced at Shiru and smirked but it wiped off his face when the boy did not react; mystified he addressed him. "You are not surprised?"

The blond recalled each time his father explained that his hair and skin colour belonged to his mother, and that his eyes were a result of mutation that happened in bloodline wielding families from time to time. He remembered each time his father called him a son, or explained the traditions of Uchiha clan, and the further his memories went, the more he knew the answer.

"I suspected it."

The red fox shrugged and looked down contemplatively.

"It doesn't matter." Tou spoke, licking his paw. "What matters is that you are young, weak, and useless... for now." The blond was bewildered with the elder's tactlessness. Not even Pain would say such a thing, no matter what he thought. "We have to teach you to survive, to grow stronger, and to respect nature and power. We committed a mistake, giving our contract to Madara, who was too powerful in his own right to ever depend on us in battle. We will not make the same mistake twice."

The elder scratched his long and barely furred ear with the claws of his leg. "First and foremost, we have to ensure your survival; at the current moment, you are the only summoner of our clan, so I believe, you will start your training with Touhara."

With a grin, Migarui enthusiastically nodded. Shirushi blinked wondering who that was, and what the training entailed.

"Off you go, then." The elder emphasised his dismissal with a wave of an almost scrappy tail and rolled back into position for sleep.

The pair walked out and the red little fox fully regained its cheerful personality. Understanding that his small companion knew where to go, Shirushi followed, feeling that he would learn many things and secrets in the coming days.

* * *

_Fire country, woods_

With open curiosity from behind the glasses, dark brown eyes followed the fingers that turned the pages of the documents, and the glint of the ring, that meaningfully rested on the little finger of the left hand.

Timidly, Kabuto waited for his master's reaction to the findings. He tried to hide his gaze that travelled over the conspicuous dark cloak.

They stood hidden by the line of trees; it was late evening so their dark clothing made them melt with the shadows.

He received the mission more than a month ago, but he managed to complete it only two days before, and even then, he knew that he didn't gather enough.

"Where is the sample, Kabuto-kun?" His master hissed, narrowing his gaze at him.

The teen gulped and adjusted his glasses, before giving response. "Orochimaru-sama if... if you gave the order just a week, days earlier, I might have found a way to... to get it. Now though, with Tsunade as the head medic, getting close to any significant files is impossible."

The pale man hummed thoughtfully; his mood seemed to darken, and the glasses wearing teen prepared himself for the worst.

"I did not ask you to get the sample from the long dead Shodaime, Kabuto. Don't tell me that getting a single hair or the drop of blood is so unachievable." The man quietly spat, disappointed by his minion.

The teen fisted his hands to stop them from shaking as he was overwhelmed with fear. "There are many new rules regarding the work in the hospital, everyone is closely observed, there is no access to archives without permission, and as a mere genin I have my hands constantly tied. And this man is protected better than the Daimyo; it might have something to do with the rumours about an Iwa spy that was caught not a week ago." Fiddling with the rim of the long sleeves of the cloak, Kabuto then mumbled with his gaze on the ground. "The copy of case record, rhesus factor and basic data was all I could acquire."

With a loud 'tsk', the snake-like man folded the papers and placed them in the inner pocket. "I expect you to obtain it in the future."

"Yes, Master." The silver haired boy replied with a bow. A moment later he was standing in the shadows alone. His mind was plagued by a question why his Master wanted to study the DNA of a man that was never known to possess a bloodline or anything relatively close to that. Surely there had to be a good reason...

* * *

_Konoha, Uchiha compound_

With forehead covered in sweat, and hands dry from touching paper, dust and dirt, a man with short, black and wavy hair continued to rummage in the scrolls left by the wall. Clothed in standard ANBU attire excluding the mask, he paid no mind to his surroundings.

The room was dark, without windows to let the light in, and what little number of candles there was did not lighten the space enough, making it seem like it was a late night and no one was inside.

The only sound in the room was his heavy breathing and the way he picked things up and threw them away, or even, across the room when his moves were controlled by anger.

"Where is it..." He muttered uncontrollably, lifting another scroll and checking its contents running over the lines with red eyes.

From the shadows, another person emerged, quietly and strongly, but the man was consumed by his work and paid no attention.

The second pair of red orbs turned sharper. "Where is what?"

With a gasp, the man lost his grasp on one of the documents and turned around, quickly fetching a knife from the pouch on his thigh. He was startled to find he was not alone in the room.

Seeing the man's face, the intruder narrowed his gaze. "Shisui? What are you doing? How did you get here?"

"Fugaku-sama!" The man exclaimed recognizing the head of the clan.

The older man, clothed in dark blue and red robes, looked at the mess of scrolls taken from the shelf in the corner and the chest by a far wall behind Shisui. For many years he thought that only the head of the clan was allowed to know of this secret room. His gaze took in the form of the prodigy among Uchiha and he was troubled to admit he did not expect anyone to find this place. Behind Shisui, the slab with hidden inscription mocked him with its meaning and he had a fleeting thought that despite Shisui spying on Itachi because of recent suspicions regarding Itachi's alliances, they still were close friends.

With trembling hand holding the weapon, the sweat covered man closed and opened his mouth in attempts to speak and justify himself, but words did not form on his lips, and he was left with the option of staying still on the spot, waiting for the older man to come to assumptions.

"It is rather foolish to attack and try to run. You are not in danger yet; we can come to an agreement, so, tell me, how did you find this place?" Fugaku evenly spoke. He thought that provoking a ninja with a weapon in hand would not give him answers, and he'd rather not kill him just to keep the room hidden.

"We all want power, don't we? Ha, I didn't expect to find that we had to kill for this!" The man answered, his eyes widened with emotion.

The clan head narrowed his gaze, knowing that Shisui read the line about the next level of their bloodline being obtained by killing the closest person. It was luck that he came here in the right time, returning one of the scrolls to its rightful place.

The curly haired ninja quietly laughed to himself. "Someone told me of this place. Now you know that at least one other person beside the two of us knows of this." He whispered, with a note of the threat getting past his lips.

"You truly believe in this? It's not the knowledge to be shared with so easily, considering the repercussions of it being leaked into public. But, the most important is, what will _you_ do with it?" Fugaku continued, not moving away from the entrance, blocking the potential escape.

Shisui seemed to get back to his senses, as he closed his mouth and gulped; his expression became puzzled, and his hand did not hold the knife so offensively anymore. Countless amount of emotions swirled in his eyes as he faltered with a response.

"Nothing." He muttered in the end, looking confused. "Nothing!" He said louder, shrugging and laughing, as if he couldn't decide how to act.

The clan head analyzed him with a gaze and then with a slight furrowing of his brows, rose his right hand. "Put the weapon away, you don't need it, Shisui." He spoke with a tone that brought no argument, as it wasn't suggestive, and rather, commanding.

Utterly lost in what to do, after a moment of hesitation, Shisui finally nodded. His breathing slowly became steady, and silently, Fugaku worried about the glimpse of madness he caught. It was a first time he saw his younger relative so distressed, and the matter was more than delicate.

"Uh, right, let's just... forget about this..." The man agreed, putting the blade back in his pouch; his moves were a bit awkward, like he didn't regain full control over his previously trembling body.

"Yes, forget and never speak of it again." The older man confirmed, and softly sidestepped with a gesture for Shisui to cross the entrance.

Eager to leave, the man complied and Fugaku followed him, after putting out the candle flames with a hand motion, filled with chakra. They were out with the sound of his geta accompanying them on the way.

* * *

Mischievously, with a grin on his face, Minato rubbed his hands as if he prepared to have some fun.

Behind him, like a picture drown, was the main building of the Namikaze Compound. It was white, with stylish columns, high windows that reached the ceiling from the floor, and red flowers that lined the balcony. From the training grounds they were on, the building looked like it was charmed.

With the background so pretty, Hyuuga Neji could only melt in the view of Yondaime's beaming smile. Everything was almost unnaturally warm and he felt like he had the best of luck that day. Even his uncle forgot that he visited the Hokage today, so he heard no reprimand. Usually, anytime Hiashi heard that his nephew met with the village leader personally, the clan head was scowling and lecturing the boy about letting the man manipulate him. It was unheard of for the member of Hyuuga clan to socialize with someone of that high position in the village so openly. Older members treated him and his mother like they were traitors, especially since they heard that he learned the styles of fighting _improper_ for a Hyuuga. Like elemental techniques and the art of wielding needles and blades.

All of it had no meaning though, when he found himself this sunny day in the company of a man he adored.

On the boy's usually serious and scowling face formed a small, sweet smirk that was a reward for the blond man for all his efforts to lighten him up.

"You've passed the exams with flying colours, so as promised, I'll teach you any jutsu in Konoha you want!" Minato exclaimed and with gleaming teeth, that somehow reminded of one Might Guy, he eagerly waited for the academy student to voice his choice.

The boy nodded and without missing a beat, replied. "I want to learn Kaiten."

The blond man froze with a smile plastered and after a moment of silence between them, his expression fell into bewilderment. "The what?"

Knowing that the Yondaime heard him well the first time, Neji stayed silent, opting to smirk up at the man instead.

Minato blinked and bit his lower lip in disappointment. "I offer to teach you any, _any_ jutsu you want, no matter what you ask, elemental, chakra manipulation, seals, heck, I might consider teaching you the Hiraishin, and you ask for the Kaiten!" The man pouted and sighed. "And here I hoped to teach you Water Dragon."

The boy folded his arms and tilted his head knowingly. "You did not deny that you knew Hyuuga techniques, Yondaime-sama, and if you insist, I would gladly learn Water Dragon too."

"Cheeky brat." The man commented.

"Always at your service."

Minato ruffled the boy's perfect hair. "Fine, you'll have your Heavenly Spin and that Dragon, but only because I like you so much." He laughed when Neji pulled away and started to fix his hair, giving it lots of attention. "You didn't think that Hyuuga techniques would be a problem for me, right? I am a master at chakra manipulation and have just as perfect control as shinobi of your clan. Even if I never used nor learned this jutsu, does not mean I have no knowledge of its theory. What I remember though, is that this jutsu is reserved for the members of the main house."

With a sour look Neji humph'ed, and answered. "So what? I still plan to learn it."

"I know. You're arrogant. You'd learn it with or without me. But why would I let you have all the fun?"

They shared wicked grins.

* * *

_Summoning realm_

The puzzlement he felt had no bounds.

It was the next day of the same thing. No matter what he did, no matter where he went, he was followed by him.

With frustrated sigh, Shirushi plopped on the ground. Touhara followed his example.

Shiru raised his right hand to rub his face in a tired manner and the fox copied the move with the mirror precision. Not a second earlier, not a second too late, neither an inch further nor the inch too close. It was perfect.

He didn't even notice the difference in their body build and colour if he paid it no attention. But he did, because it was a lesson.

Touhara was a bright orange fox a size of a lion. The tips of his ears, tail, and his paws were white. He wasn't that old, but the boy could clearly discern he was an adult among foxes. His eyes were surprisingly green, and he had to admit that this fox was one of the prettiest he had pleasure seeing.

Their first meeting was the same. Touhara bluntly mirrored him, showing that he could catch every movement the boy made instinctively. It was funny to watch in the beginning, but soon Shirushi became bored with it, not understanding what the fox tried to communicate through the 'lesson'. Later, when he spoke with others, he realized.

The fox followed him to Migarui and his sister, and the mirror changed the object to copy. Touhara copied the brightly yellow fox, standing directly behind her, and it was then, that Shirushi stopped seeing his teacher. The movements were so fluid and natural, so 'shadow' like, that it became simple to lose sight of the fox and it became simple to understand. Touhara was there, all the same, but he was 'absent'.

_"Most of the clan members know this thing. We call this skill 'Notice me not' and it is the first and the most important lesson of survival. You can do many things and you may face different opponents, but there is often a time when you prefer to hide. You don't have to run to be absent in someone's eyes, just become part of the nature, part of the world you see, and all attention will be diverted from you. Touhara-san mastered this skill to a point where he can spy on others becoming their shadow, without them knowing, of course. A pity we could not test this skill against other clans and people for years."_

He was expected to observe the way his teacher moved, and learn to behave in the same way. Like a monkey. Did it have something to do with the skills of Uchiha clan? The Sharingan eye was about copying too...

But the major difference was that foxes did not use chakra. The energy was natural, it existed in the air, water, earth, plants and the clan used it in their techniques and on an everyday basis. It even seemed that the most advanced in using this energy lived longer and often had special abilities, for example, control over fire.

The closeness to the power from the outside source also changed those who used it. Tou had his fur turn white in colour. Touhara had his eyes turn unnaturally green.

Shiru shook his head and rose.

He looked up and saw his teacher glow with foggy grey, nature energy. He looked at himself and wondered how he would learn to gather this energy too. But that was not important yet.

He took position on all fours and saw his teacher reply with a smirk, sharpened by a fang that almost seemed to pierce the animal's lower lip. The green eyes became even more intensive and slowly, the fox shifted its left paw.

With all concentration on the action in front of him, the boy mirrored the action, also trying to follow the expression the animal had and its fluidity.

Then, movement after movement, step after step, both of them arranged a circle that trapped them inside as they continued to create a mirror between them.

It didn't matter that Touhara was twice as big as him, because when moving in the same pattern, they looked the same.

_"Other clans may say it differently, but there is the positive, and the negative nature energy. To have a better grasp of elements in nature, you'd have to learn to gather the positive one, but if you want to learn to merge with nature, to become the shadow of your enemies, ready to attack and disappear without ever being seen, you'd have to learn to use the negative one. Mind you, more often than not, one is capable of using only one type of energy. But we have no doubt that shadows will embrace you."_

One of the elders explained that learning to move in his surroundings was just a start of the training; later, he will be learning how to access the energy and use it. For the time being all he knew about the negative force was that it had a misty, grey colour.

Touhara left the circle and both of them slowly moved forward. It would be easier if he could analyze and predict the steps with Sharingan, but his eye was different. He could read intentions, emotions and reactions in the body language, but it did not concern the future, only here and now. But he knew better than to complain; he would never exchange his all knowing eye for anything else.

After long minutes of sloppily copying the fox, he saw the smirk on its face stretch widely, and knew that with each second, he was doing better.

* * *

_A week later, Konoha_

The evening was hard on him; it was already getting late, but many matters still awaited him; he knew tomorrow he wouldn't even have time to come home. Another promise to his brother will be broken... He felt as if the weight of responsibility doubled on his shoulders, but there was no other way.

Aware of his accomplishments and records, the elders of Uchiha clan and its supporters chose him as the candidate for captain position. He wasn't sure if he was ready for that. The responsibility that came with it was far greater than what he had before. It meant protecting your subordinates, making sure the mission was completed smoothly, choosing who the best for each part of the operation was.

His family, his father did not ask him if he agreed, for them it was obvious that every ninja wanted the highest rank and the hardest missions. Nonetheless, he stayed quiet. It was expected of him to be the best Uchiha. He could not suddenly change and put at risk his careful strategy.

Finally he stepped into the grounds of compound with a plan to confront his mother, knowing that he could not continue to silently ignore her position in the clan. She always took Fugaku's side, always agreed with his schemes, but he knew that she was a gentle woman, and might think differently from what she openly said. There was a chance that she wanted to stop Uchiha from making a grandiose mistake, and he could persuade her to speak with some of clan members. His own position was making it a too risky move. As he was persistently observed by both sides.

He hoped she would understand him.

She always treated him like he was a shinobi that was to be respected. She did not avoid or ignore him, and rather, he was a grownup to her, a man with a job, duty, and the need for personal space; like he was Fugaku's brother, not her son.

He wished sometimes, that she looked past the appearances and remembered that he wasn't old.

That's why he was jealous of Sasuke sometimes.

His brother was younger; he was not an heir, so she gave all of her love to him, her kisses, embraces, kind words. She spoiled him in any way she could. It wasn't like it made Itachi bitter; he just wished she gave him a bit of motherly love from time to time too.

He smiled sadly, thinking that it was silly, but he couldn't help these musings every now and then.

Getting closer to the district he suddenly heard the sounds of fighting. It perplexed him as he knew it was late evening and he couldn't remember the last time clan members openly battled. Quickening his steps he moved in the general direction of clashing sounds but upon the sight he froze.

Two men were simply killing each other, using hands, knives and jutsus. Both of them expressed hatred toward each other and they behaved unnaturally violently. Their bodies were covered in dirt and dark stains of blood and they spit it in each other's faces.

He's never seen relatives fighting so brutally. Whatever caused them to turn against each other had to be gravely important. He was surprised no one had intervened yet. He looked around to see if someone else was close and knew the reason for battling.

With a sharp intake of breath Itachi noticed shadowed forms and he didn't need to look closer to know that there were dead Uchiha on the street, without a doubt, killed in a fierce fight.

What happened? Did they all fight to death? He had no time to question whose doing it was, if it was one of still struggling men, one of already dead members on the ground or someone else. All he knew was that he had to stop it.

He regained mobility in his limbs and, deciding that there was no point in arguing with hatred driven men, he used his speed and pressed the pressure points on their necks. He didn't bother to be gentle with their bodies, so he let them fall on the ground without grace.

Then he was moving farther in the rush, not feeling the ground under his feet; the nausea and ominous feeling attacked his insides but he pushed it away.

He took a gulp of air and with confusion in his mind he hastily turned a corner and entered the next alley of the district, expecting the worst.

It couldn't prepare him though. The walls, previously decorated with the fans, symbol of the clan, were now coloured red, and the ground that was blessed by the noble clan members now was covered by their corpses.

It was like a horrible nightmare coming true.

Why were they killing each other? Haven't they planned to overthrow the Yondaime? Who was behind these deaths?

He felt like he was left out by both parties. Didn't he put himself in position of a spy to be always aware? And to prevent certain things from happening?

* * *

The dim water showed his reflection in the darkness of the night. It was rippled and deformed, and he dumbly stared at it, as no muscle on his face moved.

He should have felt revulsion and aversion seeing the dark red blood on his face and clothes. But he only felt empty instead. The night left a strange taste in his mouth and a sick tranquillity of unknown origin.

The black bangs framing his face were damp, so they were sticking to his dirty, sweating skin. His reflection did not glow with red eyes any longer, they were dark brown now, but he still felt that they did not lose the glint of power, though emotions that were previously there now were gone, hidden deep inside.

Minute after minute, the time ran ahead. The long night was slowly turning into morning. But the previous rush of events did not abandon his thoughts, and left the painful headache instead, that he tried so hard to ignore.

* * *

He caught the sounds of others still fighting and questioning again the reason of this madness he made his way there.

He wanted to do the same and place everyone in unconscious state, but the moment he was close enough, the wide eyed shinobi turned on him and attacked. Just in time, he blocked the enclosing kunai with his own and then, frowning at the clear insanity in the man's gaze, he pushed all his physical strength in his other arm and hit the man's head with a loud smack. His lack of height did not limit him, fortunately, and he learned to use it to his advantage.

Unconscious, the attacker fell, but he could barely recognize who he faced. Was it his cousin, an academy teacher? Automatically, with the same strength, he knocked the other Uchiha, who, having his Sharingan activated, managed to dodge...

* * *

He looked down at his reflection and saw the stains of bloody drops on his face, these, were from the deep wound he inflected while protecting himself.

At times it seemed his body had a mind of its own, reacting to every attack directed at him when he only noticed it enough to be conscious about it. He was so used to killing already, that he didn't think about his responding blows being lethal. The realization came to him only after it was done.

_"How would you react if someone close to you decided to harm you for their own benefit?" Shisui asked quietly. _

_It had just stopped raining and the humidity around the area was glinting in the little light the sun of the evening provided. The lake was so close, that you only had to walk for a minute to reach it and revel in its beauty. But Shisui stayed somewhat away from it, opting to sit on the large stone by the path instead. His curly locks were wet, as his clothes, indicating that he did not hide from the rain that started hours ago._

_"Why are you asking?" He inquired, not really liking where the conversation was going. He just wanted to convince his friend to go back to the compound, after all he was asked to do so, and his mother pointed out that his friend had behaved strangely these last days. If she paid attention to such a thing, then it was worth looking into, but Itachi wasn't sure he was ready for this yet._

_"Maybe someone hurt me and I don't know what to do?" The man replied with a sad smile, but did so without looking at his companion._

_"Surely someone like you would know how to act in these circumstances." He muttered indifferently, not showing his discomfort._

_"If you refer to my experience as a shinobi, then know that years of working in the ANBU squad do not prepare us for everything we have to face."_

_At that moment all Itachi could think of was that many people loved to give him advice. He was an adult just like them, with his own history and responsibilities, and still, most of them treated him like a child. Even his closest friend, no matter what lies and deceits were between them._

_"What brought this on?" He asked, hoping that Shisui would finally turn to look at him. The man was more detached than ever before._

_"You still haven't answered." The man replied with his smile gone, and a serious expression replacing it. He did not turn, but his dark red eyes finally shifted and fell on the teen._

_"Maybe I don't know how to."_

_"Itachi, Itachi... So young and so smart. Writhing away from answering like some well experienced naughty street vendor."_

_He looked away without retort. The whole issue seemed to point that Shisui was betrayed. By who? He could listen around and see if there was a gossip of some sort. His friend would not tell the details anyway. But he looked so beaten, that Itachi wanted to make him feel better, yet did not know how. Maybe he should just be honest and answer truthfully?_

_"I'd be disappointed." He muttered at last. _

* * *

The satisfied smile on the lately pensive face terrified him. He did not know how to approach Shisui, who stood on the roof with his arms folded on his chest. What was behind his posture? While everyone seemed to lose their minds and attack whoever stood in the way, his friend observed the slaughter like it was a show.

Indecisively, he waited below for some sign of a reason, explanation or a motive causing this. The flashes of the last days whirled in his mind, but whatever he could have suspected never added up with what he saw at that moment.

_"So you say he looked like he was crazy?" Minato asked with a frown, tapping his chin with a brush end. He was thoughtful, instead of being totally astounded._

_"He certainly did not behave like an adult, though, by all means, he looked like he was one." Itachi replied, stopping himself from fiddling with his fingers. When he wasn't sure of something, he tended to have an urge to move or do something, but with his entire noble worth, he didn't think he could give such a habit a chance to form "I am worried about the eye the most. I did not notice it immediately, but after rechecking my memories, I have no doubt it was real."_

_Expectantly, he looked up at the blond man and waited for his presumptions and deductions, patiently._

_The silence stretched and Itachi wondered why the Yondaime seemed to be so serious. The lack of surprise could mean that Minato knew something, but his silence did not prove it. _

_He himself spent a lot of time searching for the identity of the person, right after he realized that he dealt with an Uchiha. But his explorations gave no result. He did not know of one eyed Uchiha alive that could hide behind the mask._

_"For years already, I am waiting for the evidence that the man is alive, but all that I suddenly get is unstable masked person that could just have stolen the eye." Minato mumbled, looking out the window in his office._

_Puzzled, Itachi raised one brow. "Who did you think of?"_

_Humming, Minato let his blue eyes travel for a moment to his companion, with a cold, contemplative glint, and then back. "In history, there were only few who had the power to control the tailed demons; over seven years ago, one person was already dead, another I knew very well personally, and that left only one possibility, but without any proof not even I can make an assumption. Anyway, I remember clearly that Madara always had both of his eyes, so my farfetched idea is not correct."_

_Running after the line of Yondaime's thought Itachi assumed that he spoke of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, both of whom were known to possess an ability to control bijuu. And almost eight years ago, there was the Kyuubi attacking the village hidden in leaves._

_"You tried to find a proof that Madara was still alive, and he was behind the attack on Konoha. ...You don't think that the beast appeared here by accident." The teen muttered, testing the new information. _

_"Yes, but that is beside the point. I'd rather know how this unknown individual got through our security measures and managed to follow you unnoticed."_

_The 'I'd like to know it too' from Itachi went unspoken, and both of them knew then that the mysterious person had become a threat._

Could the same person be the initiator of what was taking place in the district? He couldn't know.

As much as he wanted to find everyone and stop the madness, he could not shake off the feeling that Shisui was somehow involved. He had to be. He was the only one who calmly waited for others to kill themselves, without stopping or helping anyone. What pushed him to this?

Recently, both of them distanced from one another, following their own beliefs and orders from their superiors. And both of them chose their separate paths, serving their village or their clan.

He never imagined that it would push them this far apart.

With a dread inside, Itachi flickered himself on the roof to stand behind his friend. The full moon on the dark sky illuminated the picture from above, making his and Shisui's outlines glow eerily.

Both of them were wearing their squad attires, without the masks, though. But Itachi's uniform was already bloody and dirty, after facing his frenzied fellow clan members, while Shisui was fully clean, as if untouched by _reality _of the night.

His friend looked over right shoulder with a sparkling smile.

"I am finally doing something more for the clan, Itachi."

He stilled the muscles on his face, to make sure he was outwardly indifferent. "Enlighten me then, Shisui."

The man laughed softly, and pointed with a tilting of his head at the street below. "Look." He whispered. "In the end, the strongest will survive and be even stronger."

"What gave you that idea?" Itachi prompted; his voice equally soft and whispering. He didn't hear the shouts any longer, and for a moment he was not bothered by the bloodshed. His attention was on one person who just admitted to be _responsible._

It suddenly made sense.

Shisui was the only Sharingan wielder he knew that was able to place suggestions in people's minds and force them into action. This ability was subtle, barely detectable, but he knew it was real. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that it could be used to force someone to kill their relatives ruthlessly and mindlessly.

Previous days seemed like the calm before the storm that had reached them tonight. Illogical, pointless, agonizing slaughter; it was so empty. It's not true that power was worth any pain. Was his friend so blind to believe that all of them will benefit by killing their closest person, their heart and conscience? It was insane.

"Well, one of us will walk away more powerful too." The man informed him and reached for his ninja-to. For a short fleeting moment, as it was pulled out of sheath, the metal reflected the moonlight...

And then they danced.

It reminded him of spars they had before. This dance of course, was different. There was no fear of hurting the other person, no hesitation about using the opening. The moves were free, unstrained, like they were released after years of imprisonment...

* * *

His left knee and stomach ached, and he barely felt the fingers of his right hand, but the strongest impression left the dark, sprayed crimson blood of his friend on his face and neck, when held in the dead lock from behind and almost suffocated, he had no choice but to plunge his ninja-to into the body of his assailant.

He did not look where it went, how deep or at all, all he cared about was breaking free.

And it struck through the ribcage, and pierced the lung.

Unconstrained, in a rush, he turned around and pulled it out, ready to continue but Shisui fell on his knees.

Blood flowed from his lips, his eyes were unseeing, and he was just choking on his own life liquid.

It was too sudden.

He didn't plan to inflict such a serious wound. What he planned, exactly? Knocking Shisui out if he had luck, and surviving this fight as was his priority? The fast exchange of blows and techniques that felt like gaining freedom wasn't so undemanding, comfortable and easy any longer.

The reality was at his feet.

Almost always equal to the older man, in smarts, speed and skill, he abruptly felt smaller, minor. He didn't know what to do.

His friend raised his arms slightly, as if trying to hopelessly explain something, but words were not formed, and with a gurgling sound he stopped attempting to breathe and fell; never to rise again.

On instinct he followed him on the ground and grabbed his shoulders, in the attempt to understand what took place.

He noticed that his hold was firm. Wasn't he supposed to be trembling? He just killed someone precious to him. There was a difference between killing the enemy, target, and the friend, right?

He realized his face was calm too, despite everything. Was he so heartless and cold that it didn't even move him? What kind of monster was he?

What have I done? He inwardly asked himself in a whisper. With a tightened chest he let his palm touch Shisui's face, feeling that he needed a confirmation that his deed was real. The skin was still warm in the contrast to cool night air and sticky where it was dirtied by wounds. Using his thumb, he shifted the few curly locks away from his friend's forehead.

The life left the red orbs and half lidded, they sadly looked up, as their owner was held in his arms.

It took years for them to get so close to each other, and only a moment to separate.

_"Did you know, that..."_

The words were ringing in his mind, and he wanted to stop the time to find the answers, he wished he could protect his clan ...but he was so helpless.

He hadn't felt so lonely as then, surrounded by nightmarish view of the district, alone against the whole clan, like a traitor. But he never trusted them, so he guessed that in the end, the feeling was mutual.

He gritted his teeth, and heavily breathing, moved the eyelids under his palm down...

...Did Shisui really believe that he'd become stronger if he killed Itachi? Was he ready to do such a thing? After everything between them, years of camaraderie, understanding, he let his hands mercilessly squeeze Itachi's neck, stab his back, and spoke of achieving power... Like he was consumed by the idea.

It felt as if life of a killer took away ones conscience and scruples, leaving the urge and drive for power inside. It scared him to think that he would reach that stage sooner or later too. And no one would try to stop him? See if he lost himself? He should have been the one to stop Shisui, but he failed. He saw the signs, but though he did not ignore them, he did not act in accordance with it either.

The echo of the fast steps caught his attention and he was quick enough to spot the shadow disappearing into an alley.

First unsure, he rose and made a few footsteps, but then his instincts kicked in and he ran, in direction of the main building, where the shadow of unknown person led him.

The closer he was, the faster his heart was beating. His mother, his brother...

* * *

The silence of the forest was grim, as if it knew what happened but did not want to interfere, and so, when morning would come, he'd be already gone, and the story will be told by one witness.

It will be better if Sasuke would never forgive him. Though not entirely, his brother was still safer in Konoha than with him. To ensure Itachi's position, Konoha would protect Sasuke with everything they had. They might turn him into devil incarnate, but it was worth it. Namikaze Minato would not believe it anyway, so it was possible that he could still have contact with the village.

Should he seek revenge? He never wanted his family to get hurt.

The scowl found its place on his visage. He'd rather fight for judgment, and find the responsible party. He doubted Shisui was the only one involved.

Uchiha clan had villagers' love, and also had enemies' hatred and desire for vengeance.

Now all foes would find themselves satisfied.

...Unreal; one peaceful day turned into hellish night and took away the future.

And now there was no way back.

His headache did not cease, the constant replaying in his mind of what happened did not help either.

With disgust, he washed his hands and his face in the pond.

...He could not choose. Everything was decided without his consent.

His family was murdered, and he, considering the circumstances, in the end, agreed to be framed.

* * *

_Summoning realm_

The entrance to the cave, though gloomy and uninviting inside, looked well taken care of. It was not in the area of the ruins he wanted to inspect so badly, but still his curiosity said that he'd have to go through with everything the foxes planned.

The white t-shirt and the blue shorts he came in to the realm were in a better state than his black shirt and grey pants. But he could see persistent stains and little holes there too. It was good that he didn't have to look presentable for this task.

Tou-sama ordered him to wear lighter clothes, grow his wild hair, and he wondered what to do with his looks later to not look like a girl.

He scratched the back of his head and stooped somewhat to glance inside.

"Ready to enter?" A voice asked suddenly. Surprised, he almost fell inside but steadied himself and turned around. "Well?" His mentor inquired in an amused tone, standing behind him.

"I don't know. Uh, not that I am scared or anything, but you said that if don't do it right I will really get lost, then you'll have to, come to rescue and I won't have a second chance." Shiru muttered, folding his arms.

"Can't be helped. You have to do it on the first try." The knowing and wicked smirk on Touhara's face said that he would not say a thing to make it easier.

The boy sighed and closed his eyes. "Fine."

He mumbled something incoherent under his breath about foxes and their sly ways and not bothering to think twice, marched inside.

He immediately was covered by shadows and could only see the glow of his own chakra. He sighed into the darkness and concentrated on his steps, realising that he could not see the surface of the ground.

The first fifteen steps were made in a calm manner, as he waited for anything to happen.

The next steps were rather weary, and he imagined the scowl on his face as he travelled through the darkness of the place. It puzzled him that by some miracle he did not hit any wall, as if he walked straight the wide corridor, no turns, no doors, no anything. He frowned as he expected to have the need to grab walls for support and strain his hearing for any hints of the way to go.

The experience was different from what he anticipated so far.

Sometime later he felt the change, and, pretty much, saw it. His body wanted to dance, twirl and move by surroundings, and he saw the faint haze that more or less showed where he was. It was like he could finally see the other type of energy clearly, and it showed him the way.

The darkness of the cave and its deep innards captivated and welcomed him, and he followed the pattern of misty energy.

He was alone in this place but it comforted him, while his inner voice reminded him that the test was not about playing with mist.

The cave should teach him how to access the nature energy, but he will prove to have the skill for it if he reaches the end without losing his own consciousness and awareness. It's supposedly easy when you become one with environment.

As he continued to pointlessly follow the light he realised that he was doing just that, losing his senses.

He imagined that there was a scowl on his face again, as he blinked and started to look for the exit.

Inside, the cave was indeed wide and spacious. Its ground was dry, and wall surfaces stony. Not dusty or dirty, it was rather a place created by earth itself.

At last, after checking every corner, he came to conclusion that there was no exit. But he had to leave the place somehow.

Forcefully making himself stop, he mused over the matter in the way he was expected to.

Becoming one with environment sounded like becoming a chameleon. He thought that he'll be inconspicuous while hiding in the shadows, but shinobi did things like that all the time, so how could their technique discern from that? There had to be more to this, especially with some sort of secret energy in the play.

He wondered what foxes would not mention but nothing extraordinary came to mind.

What if it was as simple as truly merging with nature? Could he do that? There were techniques letting ninja go under the ground, literally, so surely he could try it.

He stepped closer to the farthest wall and took a deep breath in. With nothing to lose, and open for experimenting, he placed his palm on the surface.

The feeling of awareness he already felt intensified. Like a prickling, it travelled from his fingertips to his elbow, arm, shoulder and then down his spine. It could be interpreted as the sensation of belonging. He closed the eyelids in contentment.

Although he knew that his father refused to learn this skill, at that moment he didn't understand why. The knowledge clans of summoning realm shared with could not compare with jutsus of shinobi nations. It wasn't something you'd learn in the academy or from a teacher. What power one had to possess to assume that this skill wasn't needed?

The sensation in his hand changed slightly and he opened his eyes to see that the mist became darker and his fingers went strangely through the solid wall.

If he thought that something like this should have repelled him, he changed his mind. From what it looked like, this skill was totally awesome.

He pulled his hand back and inspected it closely for any lasting changes. Everything was the way he remembered, so it wasn't harmful to melt in the objects. The most interesting thing? He wouldn't have to learn any hand signs.

With an impish grin, he fine-tuned his senses with the energy and with a step forward, let the wall consume him.

Like a jelly, his body softly, swiftly flowed through the mass of rocks and stones.

He kept his eyes open, so he wasn't surprised to see only darkness and occasional light of the energy.

Before he could blink, he was exiting and seeing the forest again.

Touhara was patiently waiting for him and for the first time, Shirushi clearly saw him enveloped in the dark grey mist.

He turned his attention to the woods and was pleased to see that it possessed this energy as well.

With a teasing pulse, the feeling dimmed, and a short minute later, went away.

He noticed that the bushy tail of his teacher danced above the ground.

"I knew that I wouldn't need to help you out. Consider it a breakthrough in your training." The orange fox informed him.

Shiru had a satisfied smirk when he nodded, "And I can start on the second surviving technique."

The animal turned serious and raised its chin. "Yes, you seemed to know of this before, have you seen it?"

The boy turned away. "Yes." A fleeting memory from years ago, the _reflection_, of the man committing a suicide, in the red eyes of his father, excited and unsettled him at the same time.

"I see." Touhara replied and sighed. "The skill of forced suggestion is accessible to Uchiha clan because they have the bloodline, originating from the demon creature. ...You must have realized that summoning realm is the world of demons."

The blond let his gaze fall on the fox and then, rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully. "Well, that thought crossed my mind."

Touhara nodded and started to walk back to the territory occupied by abodes. "If that skill is available to you, and I do not doubt it is, we will teach you; we have conditions though."

Titling his head, the boy moved to follow. "What conditions?"

"...You will take the oath that you will never use this skill against us, for example." His mentor answered grimly.

* * *

_Ame, two weeks later_

There was no screaming anymore.

The light of the dragons dimmed and the cave was barely illuminated. Like hungry hyenas, serpents seemed to gnaw on the flesh of human, joyous that they were given a piece.

Blind, immobile statue hummed, holding the tails of these creatures.

Like pieces of puzzle, figures stood on the fingertips of enormous, cuffed hands. Kisame, Zetsu, Konan, Pain, Sasori, Orochimaru, Kakuzu.

Each one of them wore a ring.

...It wasn't like they had to stand in that arranged way.

Nagato performed the technique himself, which was partly a summoning. For it to work correctly, he needed lots of chakra, more, than he had himself. The rings worked like a transmitter of energy, taking just enough from each of them to keep the technique going.

Three days without stopping, sleeping, or moving from place. If it took so long to extract the five tailed demon, how long it would take to extract the nine tailed fox?

Musing patiently, he held his hands in the hand sign, giving his own chakra to Nagato.

The shadows hid his form, as he stood behind the statue, not really facing it.

Other members did not need to see him here. He smirked under the mask. All of them proved to be worthy of their placement in Akatsuki, especially Kakuzu, who quickly captured the assigned five tailed demon host, and Sasori, who managed to successfully work on transmitters and give them the form of the rings. He and Pain experimented with giving the owners of transmitters a different chakra or even a skill to communicate in telepathy.

He reminded himself that he had to find a new partner for Kakuzu. As much as the man was self-sufficient, everyone needed someone to watch their back. The problem was that easily irritated, Kakuzu wouldn't think twice before killing his fellow jinchuuriki and bounty hunter. And he didn't want the history to repeat itself. One dead Akatsuki member was enough.

And he promised Nagato that he'd bring the partner he found for Kisame...

He looked down at his gloveless hand and the black ring with inscription for _'scarlet'_. Fitting, wasn't it?

* * *

For weeks straight, he would eat only vegetables.

He didn't want to offend the clan as he could see that they cared for him, but they just didn't understand that humans needed more than snakes, rabbits, birds and quarrels for food. He missed rice and salt, for God's sake.

Grumbling as he walked the familiar way in the cold, humid cave, coming back there where he came from, he noted that he missed his black, warming cloak too.

With heavy footsteps, he walked up the stairs and then finally, reached the doors. His hand stilled before pushing.

He remembered that was not supposed to be seen by other members yet, so he playfully grinned, and concentrated on nature energy around him, before moving out.

Stepping on the lowest floor of the tower, he marvelled at the way he could observe the dark mist swirl through the walls, down the corridor and around him, brushing his skin.

He smoothly moved in a pattern created by nature and reached the stairs of the building; if it wasn't so quiet and killing the purpose of hiding, he would sing or whistle a tune.

He stopped somewhere on the third floor before the top, recognizing another negative energy user. He never used nor felt nature energy before he learned of it but neither did he expect to find someone who did, so quickly. The surprise caused his brows to curve up, and bewildered, he let his legs take him to one of the doors. It was on the far end of the corridor, and many rooms around it seemed uninhabited. There weren't many associates in Akatsuki to begin with anyway, but he thought that one person would make a usage of the vast amount of space.

The door was slightly opened, so the occupant did not care about passersby. Carefully, Shirushi peeked inside.

Zetsu looked the same as always, weird and green, and thankfully, cloaked. With one eye madly spinning, he shook the vial half filled with yellow liquid.

The small laboratory stacked with jars, vials and plants looked like it suited the personality of the man. It was evident that any sane man would ignore the opened door and wisely stay away.

As a more human like eye concentrated on studying the material the other, lidless one turned to the door. "So Madara's boy's back now. And it appears he learned to use the power of nature." The man spoke in a low, inhuman voice. As far as Shiru could remember, he found it funny that one man could speak in two different voices and manners. He often wondered if his looks and quirks were a result of some experiment or a result of some bloodline.

"Good." Zetsu replied to himself.

A moment later the boy registered the words and could only come to conclusion that Zetsu's plant like part knew of the skill of merging with environment, or was it both of them? Anyway, for the weird man, that skill was natural, literally.

He was glad that the energy did not give him that much visible changes like it happened with Tou, or maybe Zetsu, whom he'd never ask of such a thing. Only the tips of his ears and nails were turning pointy, which gave him a bit of a feral look. He'd never agree to learn these arts if he was to turn into the flap trap monster.

"Uh, yeah." He finally murmured, before the silence became strange. Plastering a grin on his face he was with one foot in the corridor. "I better go see dad, I won't disturb you."

Not in haste, but not stalling either, he left for the stairs without waiting for Zetsu to react or reply and progressed to his room.

Somehow vegetables didn't sound so good anymore.

He inwardly grumbled about it too, and stomped on the floor he remembered well. As he walked, he wondered if Konan was present, and thinking that he didn't want to see her yet, he stepped on the ground softly, without making any noise, just as he walked by her room.

And before he reached his own, he stopped by the door opposite to his.

Not only he could feel the strong negative energy again, but his eyes also landed on the seal.

It was on the centre of the door, behind a genjutsu, making it invisible, but thankfully, his eyes could detect it. Generally, it 'said' that whoever came close to it, even the tiny amount of chakra would be perceived, and inhabitant would be immediately notified. Why such high security in a private room, or was it laboratory? The chakra he felt slightly pulsing in the seal belonged to his father; he could always recognize it, as it had a bit of menacing feeling about it and a dark red colour.

His dad had chosen a room on the same floor with him and Konan. Did he hide something there?

Not one to be left in the dark, Shiru inspected the seal more closely and decided to check if it was capable of detecting any energy other than chakra.

Glancing left and right first, he made sure he wasn't seen, and then, taking a deep breath in, he merged with the door and walked through it. He kept his eyes trained on the seal and observed if it reacted. And when it didn't, he smirked and quickly stepped on the other side.

Slightly disappointed, he saw the plain room with one wardrobe, lamp and a bed...

His father was sleeping, on his back.

The sight was rare. Sometimes he believed his father didn't have human needs like sleep, food and bath.

The man didn't use covers; he was in the long sleeved black shirt, black pants, and looking closely, you could see that he kept one sheathed knife on his right thigh, and kunai under the pillow. These were just habits. His sandals were by the door, and gloves on the shelf by the bed, where a mask with one hole for an eye was placed too.

The window was opened, and curtains gently shifted in the wind. He could hear the rattle of the rain that reigned outside.

He walked closer to the man and looked at his face that though peaceful, was stern too. The black hairs reached shoulders now, so he guessed that soon his father would cut them.

Madara had bags under his eyes again. ...He must have tired himself with something. He always did.

The man would never know peace. He kept on craving for more.

The violet eyes ran over the form of his father, noting that the mist around it was dark, almost black in colour, which meant that the user had a powerful negative nature. He shouldn't have felt surprised. Madara didn't need the clan of foxes to teach him, he knew of nature force long before they suggested he learned it. After all he was a genius that could have become the first Hokage.

It was many years ago, but time didn't change his father's ambitious personality. His plans were just different now.

Those plans barely entailed the Uchiha clan and villages. The Akatsuki was formed for war.

Nagato said that Akatsuki would bring peace to the world through pain. The ideology was beautiful, but somehow clashed with the way his father was aligned with chaos. ...But they might have come to an agreement and made a deal, probably.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know what the demon statue was for. Anything related to it would be evil, he knew. It didn't mean that he could stop them, though. They might even ask for his help in certain things, which he suspected was the main reason he was introduced to it. And he would help his father despite his own doubts, because he wanted to make his father proud.

Even if his father wasn't his biological one.

He loved him. He loved the old, manipulative, wicked man that was raising him.

The boy sighed and then glanced at the feet and hands of the man. The nails were polished black. That was Madara's favourite colour, beside the blood red, of course. ...Fancy.

He took off his own sandals and quietly left them by the door. Then he moved around the bed and carefully crawled on it to lay by his father's side. He ignored his wish to change clothes, and to find out what happened in the last month in his absence.

He rested his head on the man's shoulder, content with feeling warmth radiating from him. His actions must've woken his father in the end, who looked down with half lidded eyes and then just shifted his arm so it encircled the boy. Immediately after that, Madara got back to sleep, but Shiru didn't need anything more to feel happy.

* * *

The perfect example of shinobi became a criminal now.

No following in his steps any longer. Was that a relief he felt, or a twisted sadness?

The greyish halls of the tower felt welcoming and Itachi walked down the last corridor and row of wet windows with noble grace. He was glad that his role of a perfect clan heir needed little transformation.

The teen was not only a cold killer now, but a power hungry villain too.

His missions and co-workers would change, but he didn't care. Of all the possibilities his position as the missing nin offered this choice was obvious.

He needed to be aware.

And what better way to be aware of Madara's movements than be a part of the group the man created?

He didn't want to hide, or become triple faced. The double game he played was more than enough. Maybe in the future he'd have a chance to be his true person. He wanted to believe that he was still loyal to Konoha, the Yondaime, but foreseeing the general plans of this organization, he was sure that he'd be condemning himself... simply.

Was it really what he needed? Who he thought of, making this decision? There were many things he could do and lengths he would go but one's abilities and wishes often were two different things.

Hearing the soft croaking sound he turned his gaze on the double doors of the office he was walking to. Through the small gap stepped out a form of the child.

He masked his surprise and continued to walk in the same direction. What a kid was doing in a place like this? This was an organization of S class criminals, not model parents.

The child closed the door and calmly strode down the corridor in direction Itachi came from.

From the small distance between them, Itachi caught the blond hair and the black coat.

Immediately, a frown marred his face. A blond child, where did he hear of it?

He looked closer and came to conclusion that it was a boy. The blond, with an almost bored expression, passed by him, and only for a short moment, looked up.

The eye colour was confusing.

Like he was bored too, Itachi did not stop in his stride and reached the doors.

And as he was touching the handle, realisation hit him, and more questions and suspicions filled his mind.

* * *

End of chapter 8

* * *

_Kikai-means 'impudent'_

_Migarui-means 'nimble'_

_Tou-means 'the beginning', 'the tower'_

_Touhara-means 'asking the field' _

_All translations are presumable, of course. _


	9. Brother

Edited by Floating On A Thought

"Speech."

_Emphasis on the word_

* * *

Ages

Naruto/Shirushi-7, almost 8 years old.

Madara-90? Probably more.

Minato-32? Let's just hope that I am close.

Tsunade-almost 50.

Jiraiya-almost 50?

Rock Lee-9 years old.

Chapter 9: Brother

_Konoha_

"I am still against the idea." Minato chided softly.

He hoped his words reached the young man who stood with his back to him.

The slight wind rustled the leaves of the trees in the area and the whisper it created seemed to be the only answer to Minato's words.

It was a grim early morning and he didn't know for how long the ANBU captain had stood there.

Standard uniform, relaxed posture that at any given moment could turn tense; and as it was slowly becoming a personal brand, the young man had his hands in his pants' pockets. It was enough to identify him these days; Minato didn't need to see the mop of standing out grey hair for that.

"We worked so hard to get you out of self blaming and you go and return to it with a new vigour. I swear you'll be the death of me." He continued with a sigh.

"I'm a captain now, sensei. And I may end up being the one to have a chance of having equal power to his in the future. It is necessary." The dull tone had a hint of sadness and resignation.

"We don't know enough to be sure of it." Minato replied. "I can't watch you kill yourself."

The captain did not turn around to see the Yondaime's face, but he knew that it expressed disappointment at the moment. Why not? It was true; he really was going back to a point in time where his mind and conscience had been broken. Instead of looking at the man he forced his eye to look down at the grey and old, memorial stone.

His eye easily found the line with the name of his friend.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a reprimand, spoken in Obito's voice. _"You're a stubborn, stupid brat, Kakashi."_

A moment later, he answered to it with the curve of his visible eyelid, which gave an impression that he smiled.

"Didn't you think it strange, that Itachi left the inscription intact?" The blond spoke from beside him, looking at the list of names too.

Kakashi knew what the man referred to. The few people who had the privilege of knowing of it were disturbed, and it left a sort of the scar on all of them, Kakashi included.

"Maybe he left it for Sasuke?" He voiced, after some musing. It wasn't like there was anyone else who'd be able to read it, much less find it useful.

"I considered that option, but I don't see a motive."

True.

But the whole massacre was hard to give a motive to, also.

"Should I give a direct order, to stop your foolishness?" Minato asked in annoyance, though there was a heavy note of concern.

The question was left hanging, as the one eyed man ignored it in favour of staring down at the stone. That of course, wasn't what Minato wanted. The blond man seemed to take a deep breath and gather his bravery.

"I swear I'll shave if you forget about your insane idea and leave the past and Obito be."

At least _that_ seemed to get some attention.

Kakashi raised his gaze on the man and for a moment studied his appearance. His clothing was contrasting with Kakashi's own black ANBU uniform, as his white mantle was different from the one previous Hokage wore; short sleeves, flame motive... The standard jounin attire beneath it made the man look older, more serious, but nothing made him older than the beard he grew last year.

Half of Konoha detested it.

The female half, of course.

Men didn't mind, mostly, but sometimes, shinobi mentioned that the Yondaime shouldn't have followed in Sarutobi's steps that way. They didn't need another old man that was kind to everyone, was loved by children and did all in his power to prevent every war from happening. Minato claiming that his actions were interpreted incorrectly didn't help.

Jiraiya-sama didn't speak to his student for the whole two months.

The blond man hopefully observed his companion, as the man pondered over the suggestion. The lone eye didn't leave Minato's face, and with held breath he waited for an answer.

Kakashi slowly blinked, and averted his gaze, back to where it was before.

The village leader sighed. "Should've known it wouldn't work." The blue eyes opened and became colder. "Hatake Kakashi, I order you..."

"You can't order me to stop my personal training. There is a law that prevents you from interfering in my private studying, if it is both harmless and the village is benefiting from it. Also, you are no longer my teacher, which means that you can't influence and manipulate the decision I made."

Minato grimaced. "That was... harsh."

The captain grunted, and from the corner of his eye saw as the blond rubbed his face with his right palm, making the gesture overly dramatic.

"If you think that you can get away so easily, then you are mistaken. Mark my words, Kakashi, I'll find a way to save you from yourself." With that said the Hokage turned on the heel and stomped away from the small clearing.

The eyelid curved and Kakashi whispered. "I would think less of you if you didn't at least attempt it, sensei."

* * *

"Move back to your bed this instant young man! If I didn't know better I swear I would think you are Orochimaru's failed and crazy attempt on cloning Might Guy!" A woman's voice shouted and immediately, the boy with dark hair and round eyes gave a salute with a loud 'yes, Ma'am' and jumped back on his bed. She had the twitch in her left eye when her gaze once again landed on his green t-shirt and matching green shorts.

Annoyed and irritated, the woman pressed her lips and silently counted the amount of sake she had hidden in her office, in the drawer of her desk where each bottle was labelled 'sleeping draught'. The knowledge calmed her somewhat; so she nodded to herself and strode to the patient.

The boy no older than nine stared at her with determination, expectation and a tinge of hope. It was ridiculous how every emotion could be so easily caught in those big, brown eyes.

Each minute was a torture for one Rock Lee. He knew never to presume things but it was so hard not to when he faced the greatest medic in history.

At first he thought that his prayers reached heavens and he will be healed, will be like everyone else. But after weeks of his pathology being studied without result, he was close to giving up.

He mentally slapped himself at that thought, remembering that these two words were forbidden.

"I have good and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

Hearing the stern voice of the woman he looked up. Absentmindedly he remembered that Tsunade of the Sannin was supposed to be about fifty years old, but all he saw was a young lady that had a spirit rivalling one his idol possessed. He wouldn't tell her though, because he wasn't sure how she'd decide to react. Such a compliment would definitely stun her...

"The bad news first, please." The knuckles turned white when he tightly fisted his hands. Always preparing himself for the worst was not a motto, but it helped him come to terms with everything.

Tsunade noticed the way the boy got ready and felt a pang in her heart. Here was a young academy student that didn't want to become awesome ninja, legendary hero or the Hokage like many others; he wasn't deluded like his peers. But his dream was to become a shinobi, a protector with morals and principles. There wasn't anything unique or unreachable in this dream, beside the fact that the boy may never have a capability to use nin or gen jutsu.

The Ninja Academy had given up on him and refused to extend his education; he had no family, no friends, and no one believed in him... Might Guy was an exception. Unable to learn nin jutsu and prove to be a promising shinobi, Lee exceeded all his pears in taijutsu, as it was the main field Guy specialized in, which was the reason he wanted to help the boy become a shinobi without other skills. The eccentric jounin quickly became an idol and a hero for a young and helpless child.

It didn't help much though, as other authorities didn't see the potential in Lee that Guy did. Despite that, the academy student continued to fight for his dream.

Already admiring his willpower, she didn't want to break it. But there was no choice, and the boy had to know the truth. "I can't heal you."

He froze and she had a distinct feeling the room became darker and colder. "I can't change, re-grow or replace your coils." She continued.

No one deserved it. To have a pure and innocent dream and then have Fate put an obstacle so great on your way to it that it became impossible to achieve.

Life was so cruelly unfair sometimes. She was reminded of it again, as well as of her own helplessness. The whole story of her life was written with failed attempts to heal someone who deserved it, someone she loved. The words 'I can't' and 'I couldn't' were the most hated in her vocabulary.

"It doesn't mean I am giving up, though." Her voice, this time loud, was firm and full of promise.

Lee, who's gaze was now cast on the floor, had an impression of someone grabbing his soul and giving it new strength.

It was hope. It filled him to the brim and rising off the bed he gave in to emotions.

Before she knew what happened, Lee flung himself at her in gratitude and tightly embraced her bigger body with all the strength he could master. It was a lot, she noted and formed a smile on her visibly young, but tired face.

"Just give me more time." Tsunade muttered, hugging the boy back. "The good news is that medicine is not the only possible way to fix it, and I plan to force someone to help you." A gleam in her eye said that she guaranteed it.

* * *

Her next stop was at the bed of a patient that hadn't spoken since he woke up. When she reached him she hoped that he would be awake and willing to share with his thoughts, but in a white room that felt very empty, he still occupied the bed silently, this time sleeping.

As she approached it, she noticed that the window was opened, letting in the fresh air. But the weather was dull, pointing to rain. If there would be thunder, and the kid stayed alone in the room, he might get frightened. Most of the children were terrified of such things, just did not admit to it. It was worse when they were alone to deal with their fears.

She silently crept to the farthest wall and gently closed the window.

"Maybe he should stay in the room with other patients now."

The sudden whisper behind her caused her to turn around quickly. What shinobi could come in so soundlessly? There was no noise of steps, no chakra.

Standing in the doorframe, Minato greeted her with a small, sad smile, like he knew what was in her head. In response, she tried to give him the evillest glare she was capable of, but it turned out to be filled with tiredness and irritation.

Casually, he ignored her switch in moods and directed his stare at the patient. Black hair stood out in the overall light environment, but skin seemed too pale. It was a family trait, he remembered.

"He would simply ignore everyone, unless you choose the topic of his brother." Tsunade whispered back knowingly and folded her arms. She glanced at the patient in bed to make sure he was asleep, and continued. "He will bring lots of trouble in the future. Do you have any plan?"

Lazily, the blond rubbed the back of his head. "Other than keeping him out of depression state, no, not really."

In response, she gave him a scowl and sharp, piercing glare.

"Well, cough; he needs someone who can relate to his situation, someone still young, who can give him advice." Minato added. Seeing her nod, the blond released his breath, glad that one crisis in their relations was avoided. For a minute Tsunade studied the boy's face.

"We should be looking for someone suitable... Uchiha were always hard to get through to, and I never liked this clan to begin with. ..I don't know if I should be disgusted with what Itachi's done or be thankful to him." The medic mumbled and looked away.

"Don't speak of him like that, you don't know him."

Surprised, and on some level offended, she bit back. "And you do?"

A long silence formed between them, disturbed by the downpour outside. Minato wasn't sure if the woman should know. He kept his contact with Itachi as private as possible, not letting in anyone else. He deemed it crucial for the teen's safety, and he was right. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to prevent the attack from happening, and he just didn't expect the sides would be opposite. Who struck the clan before it tried to take over?

"I do, and I would never believe he was responsible." His voice was even, quiet, and convincing, and actually reminded her that Itachi was not only a shinobi with years of experience but a teenager that might have gotten involved in something he had no control over. She knew that higher ups never missed the opportunity to use shinobi with potential and power while they were still young. It gave them a chance to have a heavy influence on their minds and actions.

"And here I thought that he's just gone crazy." The response came without a clear emotion; it sounded reproachful, unsure and even sad.

The blond village leader scoffed and turned his head away; it looked like he glowered at no one in particular.

Tsunade raised her left brow inquiringly.

"The only one who's gone crazy is Kakashi. You should've seen him; he's standing over that damnable stone like he's some fucking hero, sacrificing some sort of self-worth. He behaves like he has a better sense of right and wrong, and over who, _me_? What a hopeless, stubborn brat..."

Tsunade raised a second brow at his ramblings; it forced her forehead to become wrinkled, but Minato was intelligent enough to keep quiet about it.

"I don't think I get it." She whispered with obvious curiosity. Figures, anything that did not relate to the Uchiha was supposed to take her mind off the recent events, but, she didn't know that it concerned the same clan too.

"Do you remember what was written there, in _that_ room?" At her nod Minato continued. "Then you should remember that I used to have a student, Uchiha Obito, who... well, you know the story." The man grimaced feeling all of the sudden uncomfortable, so she didn't press him for details.

"I remember that basic story, go on."

Sighing, he gave up and checking once more if the boy was asleep, continued to whisper. "Well, imagine that Kakashi had this brilliant idea; he will do what was written _there _by convincing himself that he… killed Obito, or that his, inactions… killed him. How does it sound? Crazy or not?"

Tsunade blinked, and then turned what she heard in her head. "So, we have a temporarily or... permanently depressed ANBU captain to keep an eye on?"

He loudly sighed. "No, I care for him, and have my precious person killing themselves with ungrounded guilt."

"Oh."

He shook his head, exasperated, and turned to leave.

"Wait." She stopped him. "I know you're not in the mood, but you should be aware that I can't heal Rock Lee."

Frowning, he faced her again. "That academy student that has no chakra?"

"No, the academy student that has lots of chakra but barely has chakra coils." She gritted out meaningfully. "You're a seal master, Minato, surely you can think of something to help him."

The man scratched his neck thoughtfully. "We'll probably need a buffer, connected to his gates, and arrange the seals in the way that will let him use the stored energy without physically gathering it. But, I'm not sure there's anything suitable for this... kind of..." He trailed off, staring at her. A moment later he stepped closer to bewildered medic and slowly raised his right hand.

His fingers caught the small, blue crystal that rested on her neck. "...Unless..."

* * *

_Ame_

Swish!

A sharp, metallic star tore through the target and embedded itself into a tree.

Targets, small and white, circled above the ground in different patterns. From afar, they looked like butterflies, lively and cute, but in reality, when needed, they were just as sharp and deadly as shuriken.

With a slight tap of the fourth finger on the base of the thumb, the weapon appeared from the seal.

Swish! Swish!

He liked to play that game, though Konan preferred to call it exercise. She filled the air with paper and he was supposed to hit each moving target. When she decided that it was too easy, she directed the 'butterflies' at him with double speed.

His moves were automatic. His hands worked with precision he trained before and he did not concentrate on the task, rather, his mind was occupied with last developments. One, he wasn't hiding from Akatsuki members anymore, and his assignment was to interact with them, observe them, and notify Nagato or his father if anyone had a hidden agenda; the ability of seeing through lies had to make it relatively easy. Two, he found out that the young, grim faced newest addition to organization was also a member of Uchiha clan. Surprising, as he never expected to meet anyone from the traitorous family. _His_ family, he realised scowling. Even if he wasn't his father's son by blood, he was still his by their bond.

Swish!

Itachi was a confusing character. His dark, ominous appearance heavily clashed with his calm, almost resigned energy signature. Shirushi had a chance to study him from the shadows but in the end was lost. He couldn't understand the meaning of emotions he found. There was sadness, curiosity, sorrow, and guilt. For someone so young, who claimed to have finally found a place to belong to, it seemed strange that his feelings did not support his words.

It was clear that Itachi lied about himself, but for some reason, Shiru was sympathetic to him. They didn't even exchange words, but there was just something about the teenager that asked to be explored. He could easily inform the leader that Itachi couldn't be trusted or that he had some secrets, but first, he wanted to know more. That made sense, because without further details of Itachi's intentions he couldn't decide if the teen would live or die.

One mention of any Akatsuki member being deceitful, untrustworthy, and that man _would_ be dead. The blond had a mental grimace at the thought of having such power over someone's life. His father, Nagato and Konan believed in his skills fully, and they wouldn't question him if he announced that someone was a traitor. Themselves, they didn't trust anyone, even each other. That dishonesty often left a bitter taste in his mouth. But that was the world of ninja, right? Always expect someone to stab you in the back.

About dozen of butterflies attacked from several sides, and he instinctively dodged, rolling on the ground, then rose and quickly moved his fingers, summoning water from air particles and creating a bubble around his body that worked as a shield.

"You are distracted." The woman's even voice travelled over the clearing. He looked up to see her standing like a statue. Her face was expressionless and eyes were cold; her left arm seemed torn, formed from the pieces of paper. Her beautiful weapons circled above and around her, making her look less human, but more like a divine being.

"Doing lots of thinking." He replied absently, wondering if she knew that he saw her amusement behind the stone facade.

The paper moved faster, and he had to run to avoid getting cut in sections.

"Then think on your feet." She advised, in answer to which he just rolled his eyes.

* * *

He asked himself if what he did was necessary. At time it seemed it was, but as always, as days passed, he wasn't so sure.

Following the instructions his feet took him upstairs. The ridiculous black and red cloak was surprisingly comfortable, he noted, looking down. It ended and folded in the right places. A familiar weight on his finger reminded him of 'scarlet', a ring that tied him to organization. All of it made him feel trapped somehow, like he couldn't turn back now that he entered the world of criminals and became a part of it.

He admitted though, that he expected something else.

Twisted, ugly, crazy or fixated on one thing only, Akatsuki members were not as bad and bloodthirsty as Itachi imagined them to be. His partner was an overgrown child that was in love with violent games. Using all the skills, Itachi made others see him as a gloomy, dangerous, secretive and brooding shinobi that minded only his own business. Such unfriendly personality alienated his partner from him, but he suspected it wouldn't help in the long run. Every member had some trait or behaviour that pushed away others, and Kisame, Itachi realised, was an exception.

The man with blue skin, small but sharp eyes, and a huge sword that started and ended his description, had adventurous nature. It didn't matter if adventure was about travelling the world or pissing off someone powerful enough to kill you; everything was fun, as long as there was some blood, fighting and generally something to do.

Clearly showing that he was not interested in the first or the second, the teen managed to get away with only few words muttered. But for how long, he wasn't sure.

The corridor was barely lit so he had to watch his steps; his attention though changed directions when he heard voices.

"...and I can stay with Sasori-san again, it's not like leaving this country is dangerous!" The first voice was high and without a doubt belonged to a child. Immediately an image of the blond boy formed in Itachi's mind.

"I don't know what Pain was thinking when he let Sasori and Orochimaru leave with you; leaving the Tower itself is not safe. This is not happening again. Members are ordered to take turns in keeping an eye on you." The second belonged to Madara, without a doubt. He would recognize the man's voice anywhere since the first time he heard it; low, masculine, controlled and never risen.

Itachi would be curious to stay hidden and listen in the exchange, but he knew that the ancient man had already detected his presence. The best course of action would be to slow the pace while getting closer to his destination at the same time, using the chance he had to observe the interaction between the man and the boy.

"You can't keep me within these walls!" The blond exclaimed with surprise and horror.

Now that he was closer, he drank in the image of the child, studying every inch of exposed skin. The warm yellow shade of hair, small slim and not yet developed body, round delicate features, but _no_ whisker marks on the cheeks, and those big, wide... purple eyes? Taking a shuddering breath in, Itachi imperceptibly exhaled with relief. His concerns were dissipated for now.

"I can and that is what I am doing." The cloaked man replied coolly and glanced up.

The teen was disappointed to see the mask on Madara's face instead of its characteristics. All he knew was that the man was tall, agile, had lots of knowledge and power among which immortality could be listed ...and had a weird sense of humour. The last one had a good reasoning. The man had jumps in personality that suggested he was insane, though, after some surveillance, it was easier to say he liked to make people think so. Most of the time, shifts between being serious and childish were simply unnerving.

"Took you long enough, come." His ancestor offered no greeting and pointed him down the corridor.

Itachi followed with a slight glance at the boy who was affronted at being so unceremoniously dismissed. _Typical Uchiha tactic_.

Thinking if he should point it out to the child he noticed that they reached the stairs and moved up. Finally, they stopped by the window.

A clear blue sky reminded him that Rain village wasn't as rainy as one might possibly think. It was a pleasant surprise. The space around the Tower gave its inhabitants lots of privacy. Strange, how officially it was known that the building was a ...morgue of sorts.

"Read this once and memorize."

His gaze turned to the man who handed the scroll to him. It was supposed to be the most important technique shared by all members of organization. Calmly unrolling the scroll, he read the name of it, Nine Mystical Dragon Seal. With a mental frown, he activated his eyes and read line after line explaining the details of using this technique.

This only confirmed his fears. Jinchuuriki died after the extraction.

Just as the last line was memorized by his doujutsu, the scroll was softly taken from his hands. The masked man rolled it and with a wrist movement, made it burn. That was some good show of elemental manipulation.

"Do you have any questions, Itachi?"

Such an inquiry was innocent, but somehow implied more than it seemed. After all, their _deal _was based on questions and answers.

With a blink, Itachi tilted his head and turned his gaze in direction of the stairs. It was a wordless and obvious question, one Madara surely had expected.

Even if the man's lips were not seen Itachi could feel there was a smirk behind the mask. Was the timing of their meeting intentional? Was he meant to see the boy? He wouldn't know until something was said or happened to confirm it.

"My son."

_Completely illogical_, the teen thought. But the blond _did_ have the doujutsu and visibly had a close relationship with Madara, if Itachi took the whining into consideration. Also, the man made an admission in the prideful tone. If it wasn't the most interesting topic about Akatsuki then Itachi didn't know what was. Still, he couldn't express his curiosity, especially with information he would disclose.

"Any question _you_ have, Tobi-san?"

Calling someone whose identity you know using a name this person created was odd at best, and at worst, could lead to a slip, because it wasn't like Madara introduced himself as such.

He worked for an organization, wasn't an official member but had direct orders from the Leader, or was it the opposite? With a mask firmly placed, the man never revealed his face; he wore gloves so it was almost impossible to decipher his age. Even if he uncovered his appearance, the powerful illusion could alter it _just_ as easily.

They made a deal when Itachi was at his weakest, mentally and physically, after leaving the Fire country with hunters on his trail. It was simple; he would receive answers to all of his questions, if he worked for Akatsuki. And information, awareness and answers were things that at that moment in his life Itachi valued the most.

In the back of his mind he knew that this position was reserved for Shisui, and all he had to do to know for sure was to ask, but somehow, he wasn't ready for that bit of knowledge yet.

"When Pain-san asked you about the whereabouts of the Kyuubi, you refused to answer, how so?" The man leaned on the windowsill, his movements casual.

"There is an answer to the question I'll exchange with this secret." Straightforward replies were necessary. There was no need to turn their conversations into games. Thinking about it now, Itachi was glad to have prepared beforehand.

"Something even I would be unwilling to answer?" The tone was amused but at the same time guarded. Would the man shift to his carefree attitude? Itachi ignored the possibilities and nodded. After a slight pause where Madara tilted his head in wonder, the man replied. "Go on."

"The Uchiha clan used to be in possession of the contract with foxes many years ago. What happened to it?"

Despite the sun rays reaching them, the man's form darkened, and his visible eye became narrowed and calculating.

The knowledge about contract could be easily connected to Uchiha Madara who fought Senju Hashirama, to the attack on Konoha almost eight years ago, and to Uchiha clan that tried to hide every proof of the contract existing.

Telling the truth about who was the owner of it was like admitting to being Madara himself or at least someone who knew about him. But not revealing it meant that Itachi would keep the secret, and finding Kyuubi was one of the main tasks Akatsuki and Madara placed before themselves.

It was a worthy question, though it was hard to say if value of answers was equal, you don't know until you try.

"Uchiha Madara used to be the owner of the contract. He no longer is." Truthful response given in a calm manner surprised the teen. Usually when asking such difficult questions one awaited evading answers, half-truths and silence.

This display of honesty prompted for an equally open disclosure. But what happened to the contract? It had no user? That had to be explored...

Every member of the ANBU squad knew where Kyuubi was, and Itachi wasn't an exception. He knew about the seal with a key that was protected by the Toad clan, as well as about the missing child.

... Namikaze Minato created a secret within Konoha that like a rumour reached every nation; about him sealing the beast into the powerful object and hiding it with space-dimensional technique, and about his newborn son getting kidnapped in the chaos the beast formed. He wanted to make sure that different parties did not look for the boy because he was the bearer of the demon.

There was no doubt that these rumours had also reached Madara, who analyzed every word and probably had come to the right conclusion, that the sealing and the missing child were connected.

Now, if Itachi just said that the demon was sealed in the scroll and hidden in the summoning realm, the man would not believe him, already having come to conclusion that the boy was a jinchuuriki. Lying would not lead anywhere, especially when the man already suspected the truth.

"The Yondaime Hokage sealed half of the fox in his son who went missing, and the other half is protected by the Toad clan."

It wasn't hard to say this, and most of it Madara knew and suspected before now; he just had this information confirmed. A brief silence between them indicated that both of them were lost in thought. Seconds later, the man nodded and started to leave.

Before he made five steps though, he spoke, over his shoulder, once more.

"His name is Shirushi, and you will see him summoning foxes in the future."

With that the masked man left him standing by the window, with a stunning realization that he just openly confessed to being Madara, and a father.

Not only that, but that he was also there the night of the massacre.

After all this man possessed the most powerful gift of the Forced Suggestion in the history of Uchiha clan, a gift, which forced the Kyuubi to attack Konoha after Madara summoned the beast, and forced Uchiha clansmen to attack and kill each other. The man was so powerful that he did not acknowledge Itachi as a threat. Their conversation was so casual to the older and more experienced shinobi that suddenly Itachi realised that for Madara all the spying, confessions and wars was simply a _game_. A game, where he was just another pawn.

This thought made him relax somewhat. That was good news.

* * *

If his father thought that he will agree to the new rules so easily, he was mistaken.

This protection he spoke of, inside the four walls of the Tower, sounded like imprisonment.

With a huff, the boy followed the retreating backs with cold, piercing eyes. He wanted to prove himself to his father, prove that he was not a child and was not useless, but first, he would have to show that he would never agree to being protected against his will.

Soundlessly, small feet disappeared under the ground, and then body went after. In front of concentrating eyes appeared empty rooms, floor by floor, the stone structures and caves. With held breath the blond ignored the passing sensations of the pressed air, cold and all consuming darkness. And then the grey smoke that was seen here and there turned a shade darker and like a lullaby, hypnotized with its dance.

Purple orbs became glazed and so in tune with the energy that Shirushi felt like he swam or flew underground. In the back of his mind was the main destination but most of his thoughts belonged to the thrill of being so close to the environment.

He loved that feeling.

The noise from above alerted him to the life of the village. He happened to walk by this particular place only once, but it was enough to reach it even blindly.

Slowly, from the gloomy corner of the alley, emerged the strands of yellow hair, then a forehead, narrowed eyes, nose and pressed lips.

Shadowy abandoned space by the street was a good place to start. Further away, he could see people walking by. They completely ignored where the turn led and kept to their business. The small boy let his body breathe again and his back touched the dirty wall of an old building.

Suddenly it wasn't such a good idea to wander around on his own; he's never done that before. Many people would get mad knowing what crazy idea he realised; he meant his father and Akatsuki, of course. Here they were taking care of him and he just ran away. Like a little child he was. Though, most of the time, he preferred to refer to himself as a growing kid, very close to becoming a teen.

Stupid, really, but never having contact with someone of his age it was hard to know and compare. Did other kids think the same way too? Should he study it, just to satisfy his curiosity? Now he sounded like his father... He was getting off the track...

The village of Ame seemed set on ignoring him and with a smirk Shirushi decided to use it; he was already here, why move back? He had to prove that rules existed to be broken.

The fingers of his right hand grasped the edge of the hood and lifted it over his head. There was no reason in attracting attention. Blonds were not that widespread in this area.

Short confident steps took him to the street and he blended with the crowd of black wearing villagers.

Colourful.

That word described the mass of people that were glowing regardless of them being shinobi or civilians. Unlike plants, variety of shades and colours amongst humans and animals was huge. He liked orange, white and green to be exact.

Everyone ignored the deep puddles, high grey buildings, shadows. Sometimes there was a pair of ninja that monitored the passers-by; they were easy to notice, with their chakra directed to individuals they scrutinized; their searching, suspecting gaze and at last, a small embedded symbol on the back of their vests – a grey, silver eye with ripples, very much alike the ones Nagato had.

He noticed it before, which gave him an idea that Akatsuki wasn't the only thing Pain was an official Leader of, and possibly, the Ame village was under his reign too. Though, the role of his father in all of this was confusing at times.

Surely Madara was working with the man, but he wasn't serving him, nor viewed him as a stronger person. There was a mutual respect, a common goal of sorts and clear partnership, but what was the source of it? What could his father have that Nagato needed?

Father was extremely old and the least he possessed were memories and knowledge.

Or did it go the opposite way and it was Nagato, the village and Akatsuki Leader, who gave something valuable to his father?

An interesting, senseless, pointless puzzle to occupy his mind.

Of course they shared information, but Shirushi wanted to know more.

He wanted details.

The street was different now, more crowded. So much so that he bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going, brat!"

The colour was light blue. A common, boring type; but the man was tall, broad, bearded and overall unpleasant. With the agility of his young body, the cloaked blond steadied himself on his feet when he was roughly pushed aside and continued on his path, just like that same man, who didn't even give him a glance when he passed him, so, he didn't notice the boy's left hand make a few signs under the sleeve.

A short sequence of simple hand movements translated as 'earth turns into mud, your foot goes underground' in Shirushi's mind. He knew it was close to being named an earth jutsu, but he ignored it and liked 'the shove' better.

A thud from behind told him that the man successfully lost his footing, stumbled and fell. He didn't even need to look back to see that, besides, it'd be suspicious if he did.

Directly ahead was a market.

The mix of various smells assaulted his nostrils and he contemplated if he could discern them one by one just standing in place.

Probably not.

All kinds of goods were laid out for selling, with words encouraging clients created a picture of everyday life in the village. Young and old trusted the talented acting vendors, and some of the lies Shirushi heard both amused and disgusted him.

One older man in particular assured the crowd that he sold the fresh pork and mutton, and nothing betrayed his dishonesty, not his clean clothes and apron, not his pleasant smile and not the meat that looked pink and fresh, except for the dimming of his eyes each time he placed what he sold in the hands of a buyer.

How could people live in the world where they could not see the truth? It was no surprise that trust meant so much these days. If someone took away his ability to see through, he'd be lost like a man without an eye, hand or common sense.

How often did people smile without meaning it? How often did they grimace intentionally? Everyone could pretend to be passionate, kind, honest and just. But he hadn't met a person that could fool him; yet.

So he felt both thankful and sad about it; because he knew what it was like to know something you shouldn't, like, the way he knew that his father was not his _first_ father. With many suspicions he had for as long as he could remember, he knew it on unconscious level, foxes just corroborated it. But sometimes it was better to be left in the dark and it was the best example he had.

* * *

With unblinking eyes, Sasori stared ahead and recalled many conversations he had with his... partner.

"His interest in bloodlines is unhealthy."

The statement brought no argument and Pain grunted in acknowledgment. That he suspected.

"I don't like it when he works alone, though, I suppose, it's not my place to judge, as I prefer to have my own space and time too. But, I do _not_ research my co-workers and the Yondaime Hokage in secret from everyone else."

The spacious office was quiet; it was only Sasori's voice filling the air. Almost transparent curtains shifted in the wind that soundlessly entered the room.

Pain stood by the glass with the view on his precious village. Sasori had never seen him sitting. The Leader wasn't exceptionally tall but still it would be uncomfortable to stare up at someone from his position in Hiruko, a puppet he grew accustomed to with time, so he opted to direct his gaze at the wall.

"Why would he bother with Namikaze?" Pain asked, almost rhetorically. Since the moment Orochimaru joined them, they discussed the input of the scientist's experiments in the organization and mysterious plans he seemed to have. They couldn't trust him, but needed someone who was able to create monitoring links that connected the members of organization. He needed to know of their locations and movements, their goals. Nagato despised treachery. Thankfully he had Sasori to watch over the untrustworthy, hissing scholar...

"I _don't_ want to know why he indulges in this foolishness." The tone suggested Sasori wanted to roll his eyes, but his form was stoic. "But this must have a reason, it should..." Here the poison user trailed off.

"Observe him, and try to find the source of his motives and actions, that occupy his time so much."

"Right..." Inwardly Sasori did not look forward to this investigation. He had no desire to dig into the man's craziness...

* * *

Glares could speak of many things, deliver meanings, emotions and insult, frighten or provoke the intended target.

There was no need for elaborations like fists, tense postures, scowls and words. Even on an unconscious level, many living beings could interpret glares just the way it was intended to be received.

Yellow orbs with black slit in the middle, half closed by eyelids and accompanied by the face and body of the owner were never that open to him as then, as they stared at his own red, with black commas.

In the middle of the space between them, their intentions met and collided, the silence of which was deafening.

It had started calmly.

Itachi just happened to find Konoha former shinobi, one of the Sannin and well known snake summoner every ANBU dreamed of finding, catching and delivering to the department of interrogation, pacing the corridors of Tower rambling under his breath.

The situation was almost comical, it occurred to the teen that years of being a hunter would never let him get as near and close to the criminal as being a law breaker himself. And while being a witness to a madman's strange behaviour usually prompted one to turn the corner and leave as hastily as possible, the teen opted to appear in his line of vision and make his presence known.

He reasoned that there must have been a cause for the man's mutterings about something or someone getting lost and being late.

That evening the Leader expected everyone to be present on the meeting of Akatsuki members, was Orochimaru troubled by it? It was something to explore.

"I was always fascinated by small, strange coloured and marked, orbs full of potential and power; such a pity that their owners never seemed to reach the highest level of capability and mastery over them."

An obvious insult did not go unnoticed but Itachi couldn't let it provoke him. On one hand, he should protect the pride of Uchiha but on the other he remembered clearly that officially, he was responsible for the clan's demise. Anyway, there had to be some sort of retaliation, because the insult concerned him personally.

"Such a pity you know so little."

Hopefully, the man had enough capacity to read his answer as a threat. What was he thinking, counting on Orochimaru spilling what was in his head... "Shouldn't you be preparing for a gathering?"

A moment later something seemed to register in criminal's mind and his mood changed drastically. Opting to pretend he ignored it, Itachi rudely turned and made a first step to leave.

"Have you, by any chance, seen a little blonde boy?" Orochimaru asked with a scowl marring his features. It was like their short battle of wills never happened. Madara's son, why was he important now? Itachi couldn't decide if he was worried about the child that had a bloodline the man was _fascinated_ with or if he was relieved the man's attention was elsewhere. Probably both.

His silence must have been misunderstood, because the snake summoner sighed in resignation. "Never mind..."

* * *

What a little child would do after an argument with a father? What it had to do with one of Akatsuki most dangerous members, and should he be sincere with the boy that he was a distant relative of, or continue playing his role of the cold heartless killer?

With these questions Itachi travelled outside the Tower, glad that he still had time. He wasn't sure why he was worried, barely knowing the boy, but justified his actions with the knowledge that it may place him in Madara's good graces, and he would have more access to sensitive information if he became close to the child.

At the same time, it would give the man access to information about _Itachi_, if there was at least one slip in his behaviour towards the boy, Shirushi.

That was a significant name, even for an Uchiha.

...He would not be sincere.

It appeared, there were shifts in 'babysitting' as some members would put it, and apparently, Orochimaru had lost sight of the kid when he was supposed to ensure his safety. The boy was what was lost, but still, there was a matter of something being late.

The scientist didn't have younger siblings, so he had no idea where a disturbed child would go.

If the blond was raised by rules and principles of Uchiha clan, he would not play hide and seek, sulking in some corner. If he was sulking, then he was doing it with dignity, in a manner that in no way resembled distress.

A walk through the Rain village, for example.

The sky darkened and rain started, soft, caressing and calm.

The crowds dispersed under boring, black umbrellas and somehow Itachi didn't think that the boy went back to head quarters or hid from the weather. Maybe, because he saw something in this purple gaze that day he saw the blond for a first time. There was determination, defiance and a bit of carelessness. There was also a mind.

A mind resembling his own.

Itachi would not hide from the rain, because it would feel like cowardice. If one was not ready to face the weather, then what one was to do facing an enemy, hide? Also, he would not wait for someone to find him. Once he sorted his thoughts, he would be going back himself, as if he was not leaving at all, or did so but out of curiosity, not anxious mood. That was at least, what Itachi expected.

He was rarely wrong.

From his right side the black crow flew in his direction and he raised his hand for it to land with a show of flapping wide, shiny, black wings and sending drops of water in all sides. Once settled, the bird made loud but excited noises accompanied by nods and tilts of its head.

"So you found him, Kakutaru, good job."

With the left hand, he reached for a pouch and took out a treat he prepared for this occasion. The crow caught it with a beak eagerly and Itachi stroked the bird's side with gentleness and affection. It had the sharpest sight he had ever come across; he recalled looking into small bead like eyes.

With a tentative smile Itachi watched as following a thrilled shout the animal took off into the air.

The rain became harder; squinting his eyes, Itachi followed the dot in the sky walking through the maze of the village.

* * *

The purple gaze ran over the wall of water drops. Like the music, rain soothed the mind and heart. But there was more to this natural phenomenon, as each drop shone with minimal amount of chakra.

This chakra was connected to one person only. Pain.

Was the Leader searching for him already?

And here he thought that he would come back without anyone noticing.

* * *

Wet and dirty courtyard was the playground for small kids that rolled on the ground with a dog that happily barked and attacked them in a friendly manner. Each one of them tried to order the animal what to do, but as it did not work, they settled on betting whose clothes will be dirtier at the end of the day.

These children were not from ninja families, because having ninja in the family usually meant that kids played with weapons, criminal and hero characters, and dreamed of attending ninja academy.

Children of civilians had no care in the world. Their main duty was to grow, learn their lessons and later find a job, usually following in the steps of their parents, becoming merchants, farmers, administrative workers or servants.

They dreamed of adventures but had no chance to become shinobi without being born in ninja family, having enough amounts of growing chakra reserves and other circumstances.

Still, they looked genuinely happy.

Maybe one didn't need miracles and dreams coming true to be happy; didn't need money, power, titles or luxuries.

Itachi mused over the matter trying to understand why he'd never seen children of Uchiha clan smile that way. From birth, they had expectations, duties, never tasting absolute freedom and carefree days, and that might be the reason they never indulged themselves into playing innocent games.

Off to the side, he noticed a figure in the black cloak with a raised hood. Small frame and obvious curiosity over the group of kids, as well as the wish to stay in the shadows, confirmed what he assumed to be factual.

The boy was observing the game he possibly did not comprehend, ignoring weather, mud under feet and potential co-witnesses.

The black crow made a loud noise from the roof above the child and then flew off. Standing behind his cloaked cousin, Itachi saw the shifting of the hood in bird's direction.

Instead of ignoring the animal as any other person would, the head stayed in the same position under the wet fabric, making Itachi wonder what Shirushi sensed to be so enraptured. He couldn't possibly be suspicious of the environment at such a young age. How old was he, seven, eight? Just about Sasuke's age for certain. At this point there were no monsters in the dark corners and under the bed, so his reaction to the sound was something to think over. Crows weren't that rare, and in Ame, there were lots of them. There was no reason to pay attention to that one in particular, especially since Kakutaru didn't have more chakra than species from human realm. It was one of his fine points. Without a bond to that clan of summoning realm, one would not sense any difference between that animal and any other, even with a doujutsu.

As he was silently pondering, the boy finally turned from gazing at the place on the roof the bird occupied moments before and turned to look at Itachi.

From what he could catch of the face hidden under the hood it was almost expressionless, with barely a hint of curiosity he started to associate with the boy and his father. It was somewhat eerie, so Itachi was glad his facade did not betray him when inwardly he was disturbed.

People open about their thoughts often pointed out to Itachi his frozen, stoic mask. They called it a poker face. He did not disagree, appreciating having that skill.

It had been moments since they locked gazes, but it seemed like they exchanged words and secrets before the boy moved in his direction, ignoring his previous interest in civilian children's game and the crow.

The wall of rain did not seem to exist between them as Shirushi easily found himself in front of the teen.

Itachi wondered why the Akatsuki cloak had no hood to protect the wearer from the rain, as discomfort of his drenched neck started to get to him.

Maybe they could get some hats.

"Your father probably already knows of your disappearance." Itachi offered, implying that he was not here by Madara's order.

"Probably."

The monotone answer, a perfect imitation of the Uchiha flawless speech, unsettled the teen even more. Itachi just nodded and chose to walk back to the Tower, knowing that the boy would follow. However, he did not think he would hear the questions so soon.

"Why did you come to find me, then?"

"To make sure you did not put yourself into trouble, doing your hardest to prove your father wrong."

The blonde brow rose inquiringly.

"Didn't you leave the Tower to show you could, despite him ordering not to?" The teen continued.

After a slight pause later the boy replied. "I did, but why do you actually care? Technically, we're related, but it doesn't mean you have responsibility over... my wellbeing. Itachi, wasn't it? We barely know each other." With last words the boy smiled up at the Akatsuki member, in a somewhat mysterious manner.

Subtle implying that they should get to know each other was both endearing and putting on guard.

Shirushi carefully watched emotions surge through the teen, reading his hesitation, wariness and fortitude. It would be easier for Itachi to say that he was ordered to find him and be done with it, but it looked like he wanted to show that his actions were independent. What for? To become someone Shirushi would confide in? What Itachi would do with it if he did? Even more curious was that not once the teen lied. Remarkable.

"We should. I believe we will see each other quite often in the future."

The boy grinned. "If you do not want to have trouble _keeping an eye on me_ you should know that I like to learn new things. Entertain me with new techniques and what not and I might _keep quiet_ about things you don't want others to know." At Itachi's pointed dubious look both blonde eyebrows rose and he continued defiantly. "That's the deal I have with Sasori-san, Kakuzu-san and Konan-san."

The teen blinked a few times, uncomprehending how the child could place his fellow members in that position.

There had to be more to it.

"I wouldn't mind showing you a thing or two. Is your father teaching you too?"

The blond casually shrugged. The rain became thinner and they could see the Tower looming over village from afar. "Sometimes."

After an inward scowl a knowing smirk slowly blossomed on Itachi's cold face. "Typical, standard Uchiha tactic. He's not giving you enough attention, even showing you that he's interested in someone or something else, which is making you push yourself and try very hard to prove you're _worthy_ of his notice and love. Sooner or later you'll start doing things that you'll hope will please him. And from time to time he will praise you, make you feel you were right in your actions and he appreciated it."

From the corner of the eye, Itachi glanced at the boy, to see if there was a visible reaction.

A contemplative frown marred soft features but Shirushi did not speak aloud of his thoughts. If the boy was as similar to Madara as he thought, then Itachi did not expect him to.

"The adults of Uchiha clan often used this trick to motivate their children, whose main purpose then was to prove they were the pride and joy of their family. ...Even at the cost of their safety and wellbeing."

At the cost of their lives' was exaggeration, but nonetheless, deceiving a child in such a way for the sake of power and prestige was below everything.

A note of bitterness in teen's voice caught the blond's attention. There was a sign of a wound.

"Why reveal this and ruin all the fun? Don't you think my dad won't be happy with you?" The boy asked. It was hard to say what reasons and motivation Itachi had. In a way it seemed new Akatsuki member wanted to protect him, or to get closer to him turning him away from Madara.

But still not once, not a word from the teen was a lie.

Amazing, not even Nagato could say so much and be completely truthful, and that was saying something, because Nagato full heartedly believed what he said.

"Afraid I'll get on his bad side?"

The boy shrugged.

* * *

"I thought I wouldn't have to explain to you the importance of attending the meeting." Pain spoke, meeting the pair of young Uchiha at the entrance. "Ten minutes and you would be late."

After that the Leader directed his stern gaze at the blond, who met it with innocent pout.

"Come, Itachi-san, I'll show you the meeting room." Notified Sasori from behind the orange haired man. It seemed that they simply walked by but Itachi had a feeling that both of them might have been worried about the child. It was strange to associate criminals with anything remotely resembling concern.

"Hebi-san's? ...Hebi-san's." The boy asked first and then confirmed with a singing tone and wide smile.

The adults blinked at him strangely but then followed boy's pointing finger to see the medium in size snake slithering down the corridor. On its back was a scroll that gathered all the attention.

Pain scowled. "Get it."

Immediately, Hiruko's metallic tail shot out and stabbed the animal in the head. For a short moment the long body continued to move, before going completely still and disappearing in the puff of smoke. The scroll remained on the ground and quietly humming, Sasori picked it up with left hand.

"The Forbidden Scroll." The puppeteer muttered and offered it to Pain.

The man narrowed his eyes taking it. "We'll leave this matter for later. There's a meeting to hold."

* * *

_Konoha_

The air was clear and pleasantly filled his lungs.

The sound of bird's singing from afar gave impression of serenity of the place and the grass under feet tickled his skin teasingly just to remind him that the environment was perfect.

All of this did not matter though, as the main event took place just behind the fence where steam magically covered the most desired parts of the scene to be seen.

The hole was small, inconspicuous and Jiraiya was glad that there was empty space behind his back. Only trees were witnesses of his dancing feet, leering, hands scribbling notes, and hours he spent peeping through the small gate between two worlds.

Between hell and heaven.

If he didn't know better, he'd be willing to bet Tsunade put up the show just for him. The tiny towel around her frame barely covered intimate parts. She walked like a queen to the pool, with a swaying of hips and just a touch of a smile on her face.

He waited for it months and years, since the last time he had the pleasure of spying on his team-mate. It was definitely worth it, because she had become even more beautiful. In all his lifetime, no other woman managed to capture his attention in such a way. They could be young, pretty, exotic, willing and many other things, but never as enticing, captivating and tempting.

He could write poem after poem about her, place an identical character in every novel from under his hand and still he never got bored with her. He just never had enough, despite their less than friendly encounters, quarrels and separations.

It was painful that Tsunade never quite felt the same way. He felt very much lonely in this knowledge of their one sided relationship. If she had control over it, they would never meet again after dire events fifteen years ago...

Though, she didn't know about his proximity most of the time. He was proud of his stealth, such a pity that it meant nothing for woman's opinion about him.

His right hand absently turned the page and continued to write as she tugged at the end of the white towel and Jiraiya actually felt that he blushed. Prepared to describe drops of water on her skin he inhaled and his eyes widened in anticipation.

There was a quiet 'pop' and for a second his vision was filled with white.

The same steam he observed was around him and for a moment he believed in divine intervention and him landing in the pool just beside Tsunade.

But the mist dispersed and he realized he landed in the jungle of some sort...

The figures of toads around cleared his mind and he remembered where he was.

"No, Pa, send me back, I'm begging you!" Jiraiya exclaimed falling on his knees before the smaller toad with white beard, thick brows and a Mohawk. The tears that in no way could be faked streamed down Jiraiya's face along his red stripes but the toad was unmoved.

"Your research can wait, boy, the Ogama Sennin wanted to see you. Surely you can show proper respect to the elder and forget about your peculiarities for short time."

"Oh you don't understand, it was Tsunade, just a moment just a bit and I would be so happy just a... wait, why Great Geezer would want to see me? It isn't about having a drink now is it? Because if it is then I pass, really now, you can't expect me to out drink that senile old and ageless..."

"Stop your ramblings little boy!" Fukasaku gritted out and hit the kneeling man with a stick.

"Don't be so hard on him, Pa; the boy is still in love!" The toad with lilac locks defended and the male toad sighed.

"There's a new prophecy." Fukasaku said in a serious tone.

Jiraiya regained some dignity and tears disappeared, he was still on his knees but toads were so small that it seemed proper to get closer to their eye level. "Again? About me?"

Pa shook his head with a heavy sigh and led their student to the eldest toad.

There weren't many predictions the Ogama Sennin made but most of the time, they were precise, if they were well interpreted. Several thousand years of age gave the elder insight into things...

Younger toads greeted 'the perverted summoner' on their way. It amused the white haired shinobi instead of annoying or irritating him, when in reality it should have embarrassed him.

They stopped in front of the giant toad that looked like it slept sitting on the throne of sorts. The medallion it had on its neck had the kanji for 'oil'. It also seemed to smile.

Jiraiya stopped by the steps and grinned. "Hello Ojiji-sama! Missed me?"

"Jiraiya, it's good that you came." The elder spoke without opening his eyes.

"What's up? Are previous prophecies nullified? And here I was sure that Minato was that student I have that you told me about." He placed his fists on his hips with a grin.

"The previous prediction is still valid. It is the new one I want you to hear." The elder spoke gravely. It put the frown on the man's face. He never liked these predictions and the responsibility they kept putting on him, so adding another one on top of the last was disconcerting.

Jiraiya straightened his posture and turned serious. If it was anything like the rest, he had to be prepared for anything. "Alright, let's hear it."

The giant toad nodded slightly. "Yes, you should hear it; I believe... you may solve this mystery. I still see it, yes..._what was done shall be undone; the summoned shall be exiled._"

There was a minute of silence as Jiraiya waited for a continuation but the toad stayed silent.

"Is that all?" He asked tapping his chin.

"Yes."

The man furrowed his forehead. "Something that was done, someone who was called, but specifically, summoned, and then that someone shall be exiled." The man grimaced disappointedly. "...I don't have a clue what it means..."

End of chapter 9


	10. Rivalry, Revenge

**A. N**. You **must **ignore Kushina's history from original manga. This story was created in my mind **before **chapters about Kushina came to be.

* * *

_Inspiration source- '**Hurricane**' by 30 seconds to Mars_

* * *

Ages:

Naruto/Shirushi-9 years old

Madara-90+

Nagato-35 or something?

Itachi-14 years old

Kisame-26 more or less

Minato-33? maybe

Jiraiya-about 50 as previously

Zabuza-23? I thought he was older...

* * *

Edited by **Floating On A Thought**

"Speech."

_Emphasis on the word or flashback_

Chapter 10 Rivalry, Revenge

_Akatsuki base_

They stood around the table.

His father and Nagato silently studied the paper. He rarely saw them together. They never let him listen in their talks, it was usually all business and he was not allowed to be present before. Now though, the case was different.

Somehow Orochimaru had obtained a scroll with the most dangerous, for both the receiver as well as the user, techniques. It was forbidden, to put it simply, and it seemed it was supposed to be the most protected one in the Leaf village. The snake man must've been very resourceful to accomplish such a thing. He didn't study it before Nagato though, because the snake summon with the scroll never reached Orochimaru himself.

Even though Nagato did not show it, Shirushi caught the suspicious look on the orange haired man's face that indicated he mulled over the fact that former Leaf shinobi got his hands on the scroll without informing his co-workers of it or willing to share its knowledge.

Rumour had it, that the man wanted to learn every jutsu existing in the world. It looked like he wanted to start from the village he came from. But shinobi like Nagato and his father never passed on the opportunity to learn the secrets of others themselves, especially if it was about 'forbidden' techniques.

Some of them were written by the Shodaime, Nidaime, Sandaime and Yondaime themselves, including various captains and jounin that created techniques too dangerous for casual usage.

Both men unrolled the paper and gently placed it on the table. They rolled up the ends they did not need at the moment and stroked the surface of the part that interested them the most.

Madara beckoned the blond to step closer and ruffled his hair. "Look at this, Shiru."

Looking down he saw the most complicated seal he had the pleasure of studying yet. It greeted him with imperfect harmony of answers, meanings and hints. Like it was created by a seal master, a human, who had tried to surpass God himself.

The God of Death, the Shinigami.

The lines, calculations, kanji were placed with lots of thinking behind them. Now too hard to be replaced or rewritten.

"What do you see?" His father asked, after waiting for a long minute.

_I see what I see each time I look in the mirror._

Confusion filled his mind. With trembling fingers Shirushi touched the paper, as if it would confirm or refute suspicions. He couldn't possibly say aloud what was on his mind... Like he couldn't say that something was sealed inside of him before, now he could not just say that it was done with the power of the God of Death.

It made the perfect sense somehow and yet made no sense at all.

Whatever it meant in the end, his instincts nudged him toward keeping quiet about details that involved him in something he wished not to be involved into. These instincts kept him safe so far, so he could trust them.

"I see the mark of Shinigami." He started and heard almost unnoticeable intake of breath that came from Nagato. The man called himself a God, so he probably felt something unexplainable when he had the proof of one existing. "His turn... of coming, taking and giving. But..." Here he had to frown in a wonder.

"What is it...?" Madara prodded urgently.

"This is a binding contract, a summoning and containing technique, and to use it, one has to have signed the contract for summoning the God of Death."

"Hmmm, so it actually exists..." The man mused aloud. He heard of it before, the boy realised. "What else?"

"...It works two ways; one cannot summon the God expecting that he will comply with our wishes."

"Is that so?" The Leader inquired, exchanging glances with Madara, which after the man unrolled the part above the illustration. His eyes ran across the lines for a moment before he continued. "The leaders of Leaf village assumed that one pays for this technique with their life and soul, if this scroll is to be believed."

The boy shrugged. "They were wrong."

An evil grin stretched on Madara's uncovered face. "To think that they have such a powerful tool and don't even know how to properly use it."

"Still, they used it to seal the Kyuubi. The Yondaime must have been surprised to stay alive." Nagato commented with a raised brow.

"But he must have paid for the sealing somehow. Wonder what the price was..."

The blond looked up at his father and felt small tremors inside. It was fear that sooner or later, Madara would find out that he had a similar seal. How was this possible? Had he come from Konoha? If that was true then how had he come to be his father's son? And if someone sealed Kyuubi using this technique, then what was sealed in him?

* * *

Almost bored, Madara easily pulled the body of a brown haired man to the centre of the room. Fully clothed in Grass jounin attire, the armed man seemed to be asleep, so he looked harmless. The room was on the floor that mostly belonged to Sasori and Orochimaru; both of the scientists needed space for laboratories, stores, archives and cells. This one in particular was used for the dirty work; the smudges and stains of different colours, crimson included, were a proof of that.

Following behind his father, Shirushi pinched his nose at a disturbingly unpleasant smell that attached itself to the room.

He watched as Madara tied the man's hands and using kunai imbedded in the ceiling hanged the man on the rope. His moves were casual, like he did it every day, that is, arranging bodies.

The boy knew that the hanging shinobi was still alive, and at the same time, that it would not stay that way for long.

Expertly, Madara cut the upper clothing of the man, disposing of the grey coat, long sleeved blue shirt and protecting vest beneath. Then, with a tilt of the head, after quick thinking, got rid of man's pants too, leaving him in black boxers.

Like a piece of meat, the average in build and height prisoner hanged with his chin resting on his hirsute chest.

"Human body; fragile, soft... flawed. Though, the body of an adult is stronger and tougher than that of a child, it is also less flexible." Uchiha spoke and beckoned his son to come closer. "You still have years ahead of you before you grow and become physically strong. For now your short legs will not get you far from the enemy, short arms will not reach your enemy like you'd want to, thus there is no point for you to learn how to stab a shinobi's heart with strength you don't yet possess, how to cut their throat without having height matching their own or how to overpower them with techniques you have no reserves of chakra for."

The blonde boy grimaced at the truths and his father smirked placing a hand on the boy's shoulder in reassurance. "But you can always get away and even win with tricks, speed, nimbleness, precision and cunning." He continued, and then took out of his pouch two unusual, black and brown coloured kunai, handles of which he connected with few swift moves of his fingers. "I heard from Konan that you're rather fond of this weapon."

"Quite a lot." The boy nodded and observed as his father changed the angles of the blade, as if looking for the most comfortable way to use it in hold. Then he continued doing it while circling the bared man. Shirushi noticed that Madara tuned his body with negative energy, not enough to become one with it and disappear, but still enough for his motions to gain fluidity and grace. Like experienced dancer, he played with the weapon and seemed to tease his immobile partner with stabs that never reached the surface of the skin.

"The blade is extension of you, your hand, it is a part of you so you don't think how to hold it and direct it when you use it. For this to be true, you have to become familiar with it. You cannot let your enemy use your weapon against you, so if you don't use regular ones, it becomes your advantage."

The older Uchiha gave the handle to his son and gestured for him to show if he could repeat the actions with different angles.

The boy easily held the dangerous toy, aiming and leading it as if he kept it in his hands night and day, and knowing Shiru's fascination with things he liked, Madara suspected he did. Besides, he should have known the boy would be good with it, Konan made sure that he knew his way with both regular and rare sharp objects. For a moment the man regretted he was not there to witness those lessons. That regret quickly vanished, replaced with resolve to give the boy more knowledge and attentiveness.

With a satisfied grin the man continued. "Let's move further." He stood partly behind the hanging shinobi and gestured with his hands. "I think you have it easier, seeing the points vulnerable for attack; look here, just under the skin. "Pointing at the collarbone area, the man looked up.

"The arteries." The blond spoke with intense gaze. He learned that if he _focused_ hard enough he had ability to see the circulatory system. It was very much alike the way he saw chakra in living beings, though seeing chakra was easier. He was told that the Byakugan, a doujutsu of Leaf village, gave the wielder ability to see the chakra pathway system and chakra points, which seemed to be a feature his eyes possessed too.

"If injured here, your opponent will continue to fight, though slowly, he will be losing blood and become weaker. It's not that hard to speed up the process, attacking several weak points at once. You could target one most vulnerable area and kill instantly, but where's the fun in that if they don't bleed?" He clapped the hanging man's shoulder once and made a step away with a grin. "Go on, practice."

Not needing further encouragement the blond took the basic stance and started to slash the points visible to him on the right side.

Examining the results and slow process of his work, the boy changed the angle of the following slices.

The realisation that the prisoner was still alive and sleeping was nauseating, yet at the same time enlightening. His father never was amongst those who preferred to teach using dummies so Shirushi learned to appreciate the practice on living material.

When he was finished, the man nodded and quietly used the healing jutsu on prisoner's wounds. "Now again and faster."

* * *

_Whirlpool Country_

Life as a fugitive seemed to simplify things on some level, but sometimes, Zabuza did not believe it was worth it.

You were free to go anywhere and anytime you wanted; you chose your job yourself, got your money without taxes and could curse your employer without fear of creating an international conflict. And at the same time you had _no_ protection of your village and comrades, _no_ permanent residence or peace and had to be quiet while among normal people-civilians. Every minute was a journey without one perfect direction, because everywhere you went you were at risk of being found, caught and killed.

Just because you had an interesting and inviting page in the bingo book.

But Zabuza knew it concerned every person that had a privilege of being a nuke-nin. Despite having similar fates, nuke-nins rarely worked together, and rather, it was easier hunting each other down and getting rewards than organizing a stable, sensible and objective group.

That was a reason why he tracked an A-class nuke-nin somewhere into Whirlpool country; not dangerously close to Water country territory, but close enough to the huge sources of the element for his techniques. It would be pointless to look for a target in Fire, Earth and Wind countries, as it would put him at a disadvantage, and he needed any boon to survive.

He got the trace one day ago, and was pretty sure he'd not only overpower his opponent – who had a fire affinity – with water jutsus, but also be able keep the body mostly intact to receive a higher payment.

All of that changed though, when he found his target already engaged in battle.

The former swordsman of Mist was lucky that the environment gave ways to hide because he would not want to gather attention from the ninjas that cornered his, metaphorical but still valid, source of money.

The greenery and large slippery stones were a stark contrast to the violent bloodbath he never predicted witnessing.

"You moron, do not touch his face, it must be recognizable for us to get the money." The one with his face covered spoke, glaring with an eerie neon green glow. He stood calmly and observed his accomplice.

"No worries, old man, you'll get his head all cute and pretty, just let me have some fucking fun." The other, grey haired but somehow younger one replied, waving a large scythe with three blades and a rope around like it was a plaything. Both of them were clothed in black cloaks with funny, cosy red clouds that in a strange way suited the scene.

And the A-class nuke-nin himself that had been very _unlucky _that day lay on the ground in a large puddle of his own blood which came from the severed limbs. Both of his legs from shins down were two metres away. A large gash went from his right shoulder to left hip.

A gruesome, but effective tactic. The man who previously was engaged in mission hunting had been hunted and killed by others. He screamed hoarsely, with spit flying out of his mouth, veins bulging and his skin turning red in colour. His body was in spasms and tremors and his eyes were wide, wild and desperate in fear, shock, pain and helplessness.

With slight curiosity the scythe wielder cut off the man's left arm, maybe to see if he would stop screaming. The arm fell on the ground and rolled only inches away. As a fountain of red decorated the scene, the dying shinobi screamed louder, and then abruptly lost his voice.

The area had visible marks of the battle, scorches, pits in the ground, ripped trees; but this battle looked to have been one sided, judging from the result of the fight.

"He's not even worthy of the ritual! Why can't you choose an opponent that will last longer than three fucking minutes?" The grey haired killer actually whined, but it only left Zabuza bewildered and made him cringe. Three minutes? They played and cut the man who was wanted and hunted for five years in pieces wasting only few freaking minutes? Who were these people?

They weren't just dangerous, they had to be widely avoided. Hiding behind one of the larger stones and frowning, Zabuza decided that he'd do a wise thing and remember about the cloaks that were a sure sign of oncoming death.

* * *

_A few months later, Wave Country_

He never liked crowds and gatherings, even if it helped him to merge with the surroundings. Tight places, bumping, noise, dirt and even groping just got on his nerves.

It had probably a lot to do with living in open spaces, almost one on one with nature and avoiding any large settlements.

Still, he had to grit his teeth and go with the flow, as his Master often said, or should have chose a different path to walk out of town.

Usually when such mobs happened, people tended to cheer, whistle and shout, but instead, townspeople whispered amongst each other with fear. That rose suspicion.

A voice came from somewhere in front of the crowd, some words reached further.

"...and somehow you believe... want you to see... for... the end will be the same..."

Instantly, Haku knew that he disliked the sound of it. Some sort of 'point making' was taking place and he wished he was elsewhere. His state of dress was irritating, with all attention he was attracting on his self and getting in the middle of history unfolding that did not concern him just ruined any mood he previously had.

"Not my dad!" A tiny voice shouted weakly and indignantly, and Haku tilted his head in curiosity. It appeared there were some family matters.

He casually made his way to the front of the mass and saw some thugs working at binding a beaten dark haired man to a wooden cross. The scene was surrounded by more numbers of bandits. A very short and quite old man in a suit and dark glasses stood nearby and observed the situation with obvious glee.

People just watched the proceedings with terror on their faces and Haku inwardly frowned that no one seemed to try and help to free the injured man. One little boy looked like he cared, his son probably, but was held back by onlookers. The scene was eerie and disgusted him, and with a shiver, the young shinobi realised why.

An image almost forgotten formed before his eyes. He was still an innocent child then, ignorant of the prejudices and conflicts between normal people and bloodline wielders. The sight of his mother being killed by his father, still painfully fresh, hurt more than anything. He had loved them unconditionally, and not only understood what happened, but on some level, pitied them. His mother was scared of her own power, his father didn't think twice before he killed her, and Haku himself hated this power for its ability to destroy and take life and at the same time loved it because for a long time, it was the only thing that brought him joy.

Regardless of how he acknowledged and looked at his gift, he could not bear to see a child lose their parent. And he recognized the scene before him as an execution. How cruel can people be, if they can force children watch their family die?

Cautiously, Haku's fingers touched the new set of senbon hidden under the sleeve of his kimono. He inwardly grimaced at his barely functional clothing but remembered that it kept unwanted sort of attention away from him. He started to weight pros and cons of saving the man when bandits under short man's order took out their blades to dissect the unfortunate victim, most likely. No further thought distracted him as with quick reflexes, Haku sent his fastest and sharpest weapons at the arms of attackers from between the bodies of the mob. They immediately stopped and reacted by crying in pain and anger at the person responsible, though they didn't know who it was yet.

Hastily these few men took out the needles never noticing that those were covered in poison, and searched the crowd, looking for the ones who stopped them.

Haku didn't want to give them chance to find him, as unlikely as that was, so he counted them and assured himself that even outnumbering him, they weren't a threat. He was well trained in the arts of killing, and even though his Master would not approve of his actions, he decided to face it when the time would come.

As thugs and bodyguards regrouped and the short man preserved his life behind others' bodies, dozens of needles hit their targets, arms, legs and necks. Just a second later the street was in chaos and those who saw Haku's hand hold the tool of fighting stepped back in fear and awe.

Everything happened quickly. Instead of running away like others, the small boy with dark hair and dark eyes made his way through confusion and with tears running down his face untied the ropes holding his father figure with shaking, weak hands. A moment later in embrace with a man he turned around to find a beautiful girl whose face he would associate with justice.

But she wasn't there.

* * *

_Akatsuki base, Ame_

When her eyes opened, she realized she'd been sleeping.

But the pain in her body reminded why she was unconscious. With a grimace, she tried to lift herself off the ground but had no strength needed for that. She tried concentrating on the chakra inside of her hoping that it would heal her like before, but she had no access to it, like someone put a lock on that part of her.

A loud sigh escaped her and she felt like sobbing.

The last of what she remembered, a dark haired, beautiful woman confronted her demanding that she follow her willingly and peacefully. After a short argument they fought, and that woman used some sort of origami abilities that worked not only with her cloak, but with her whole body.

They exchanged blows and deadly jutsus, asked each other strange questions, and then suddenly, her world just went black.

Defeat was a bitter thing.

She could not stop tears when she noticed bars not two metres in front of her. Cold floor, humidity in the air, a slight echo somewhere outside, proved that she was in a cell.

It shouldn't have happened that way. Years of trying, fighting, proving her worth and plain surviving were lost in an instant. If she paid more attention to that woman's strange techniques, she could've escaped, or at least, would've had a time to call forth her hidden power. Now that chance was lost.

She was pathetic.

More sobs shook her and she cursed her predicament. There must've been put a drug in her system, because she could barely open her eyes to check her surroundings, not to mention lifting her hands and head.

A soft shuffling caught her attention and she looked up.

Behind the bars stood a boy.

He was… _pretty_.

Small, young, blond haired; he had his hair in a ponytail; it must have reached his shoulder blades. He was clothed in simple black pants, a brown shirt and a black coat. Squinting she came to conclusion that he had purple, red or somewhere in between, eyes. They were looking at her like she was an object, new, not noticed before.

It felt like she was in a dream. Why was everything so confusing?

When he felt the new and at the same time familiar presence in the cave he did not think he'd find a cell with a girl inside.

She looked young.

And she was a mess. Dirty, bloodied, broken, resigned. Studying her further, the boy assumed that she was not tortured, but had landed there after a fight. Even in the dim light he could catch the colour of her green hair and orange eyes. Her clothing lost colour and being torn, barely covered her. Her weeps were quiet, but she could not hide the tears. At the same time, he knew she was confused.

But no more than he was.

Her energy was so _familiar_. She had power within her and yet lying there she looked so helpless. There had to be something that made him care. Because they have never met. And yet, standing in front of her it felt like they knew each other.

Giving up on trying to sit up or even moving, she continued to watch the strange boy that examined her from behind the bars. He tilted his head to the right side contemplatively and she had a feeling that she knew him from somewhere.

Quickly, she threw that thought away, concentrating on analyzing his presence.

He was just a boy.

What a boy was doing here, wherever they were? Without a forehead protector indicating his loyalties? All of the thinking caused her a headache that was building too quickly.

Casually, like it was nothing, like a ghost, the boy stepped forward _through_ the bars, first merging with poles and then stepping forward leaving them behind like they did not exist.

It left her gaping in shock and somewhere in the back of her mind she considered pinching herself to wake up and find out she was actually sleeping.

He made another hesitating step forward, but then he stared at her with a frown, like he found something he could not understand.

His behaviour was strange. Wasn't he repulsed by her state? Did he see beaten up prisoners like that every day? And just how has he walked through the barrier, was it some kind of kekkai genkai ability or were the bars an illusion?

Before her mind could create more questions, he gently turned her on her stomach and lifted what little of her clothing was left on her back. One of the wounds stung at that and she repressed any noise she wanted to make.

After that, he simply stared at her back. She was becoming dizzy and was close to blackout.

_Containment Seal_ was the first thing that came to mind at the sight. Then bits of details about large amount of demonic energy, purifying seals and realization that the girl had something sealed inside her body, something _alive._ Just like something that was put inside of him. The difference was, that his seal was not that obvious, and that something inside of her was smaller. Also, that something had already tainted her, as he could feel her energy and it was not entirely human anymore.

Her seal though, was _placed_ by a human_._

"Found whatever you usually look for when staring at symbols, kid?"

The blond shifted his head a little and looked at the man that covered himself from head to toe. In answer, Shirushi raised one brow, a move that was mimicked by the man.

"Just studying." He replied at last and noticed that the girl was in fear. She reacted badly at Kakuzu being present, but still didn't make a sound.

The Akatsuki member grunted, and his right hand reached into the inner pocket of his cloak. He pulled out a relatively small book and flipped the pages.

Reluctantly Shirushi left the cell, in the same fashion, through the bars and took the offered book to look in. "What is this?"

"A bingo book, a detailed list of potential targets, if you wish."

The opened page had a picture of the girl in the cell. Now that he could see her clearly, she seemed pretty and exotic. Description by the image explained that her name was Fu, she was a kunoichi from Takigakure, and what was more important, she was a Jinchuuriki, a vessel for the seven tailed demon beast that was said to be a beetle. The boy's brow furrowed at that line. In curiosity he started to check other pages, examining pictures and names as inwardly his mind analyzed everything he found out so far.

Kakuzu laughed at the kid's enthusiasm. "Come." He put his gloved hand on the boy's shoulder. "You can keep it."

* * *

_Fire Country, Konoha_

Where sunrays previously lightened the sheet on the table, a shadow fell, an indication that quite suddenly the windowsill became occupied.

Minato did not stop reading a document in his hands and ignored the company.

When that continued for a few minutes, the new presence spoke.

"Did I do something to deserve that kind of treatment? Are you mad at me?" The voice was low and serious, though if you had experience you could say there was a note of amusement.

"I am not mad, sensei. How could I be? You did not leave for three months without a note saying if you're still alive, you did not ignore my request to be available for a time of negotiations between Fire and Lightening countries, and you surely never attempted to spy on your former teammate Tsunade."

The older, white haired male that rested under the sun opened his mouth to protest and did it several times, but no sound came out of it.

"See? I'm _not _mad at you." The Hokage insisted.

The sennin sighed and replied. "All right I get it. How about a short talk before you ban me from Konoha bath houses for the rest of my days?"

Minato did not leave his desk full of paperwork but shifted on the chair to get more comfortable and nodded with a gaze directed at his teacher. "I am listening."

"You know I was worried about that new prophecy the old toad made."

"You worry about every single prophecy he makes." The blond grimaced distastefully.

"I do, since most of them come true, and let me remind you once again that one day you'll have a power to save or destroy the whole world." Was the stern answer.

"I am not the only student you had or will have."

"True, but I have a feeling. Now back to this last bit of madness, I think, I _thought_ about this thoroughly, and uncovered the first piece of the puzzle." The blond gave a sceptical look but Jiraiya continued. "Think about summoning in general. Whatever and whomever you summon, sooner or later goes back to where it belongs. Now, this prophecy hints that this something or someone came and never left, and the moment it _will_ is important enough for a prophecy to exist."

The village leader had both of his brows raised and rubbed his bearded chin at the end of the short speech. "I have to agree with your assumptions. What have you come up with about the identity of that summon?"

"Nothing so far, unfortunately. I checked the history and rumours, little bits of information I have access to, and haven't a clue about a summon not returning to its place. It must be either a case from a long time ago, or it hasn't happened yet."

"...or it hasn't happened yet. Like always." Minato commented, turning away. "You shouldn't trust these things. Take example from me or Sarutobi."

"Or Tsunade." Jiraiya said bitterly.

"_I_ didn't say that." The blond reprimanded and went back to reading.

"But you thought about it." The older man quietly accused and folded his hands.

"I did." Minato replied and wondered why after so many years former teammates and friends haven't put the past behind themselves. Jiraiya did not admit his fault, Tsunade never tried to see things from his point of view, and they never forgave each other. All over taking sides about the accident that changed the lives of them three.

_Flashback_

_Leaning down, but still maintaining a balance, Minato gazed down from the tree. The greenery kept him hidden so he did not feel like hiding a grin._

_She walked down the alley, carefree and smiling. Since the time in the academy he loved the way she stood out in the crowd, with her red hair, greenish grey eyes and explosive personality. He never admitted it out loud, even though he promised himself to gather some confidence and take her out on a date._

_At first her reputation stopped him, as she wasn't exactly popular for her boyish behaviour, but with time he came to care little what others would think at seeing them together, assuming that she would actually agree to spend time with him; he wasn't overly nice to her in the academy either._

_"Ho-ho, Namikaze, have a soft spot for a retarded red head?"_

_He turned to the speaker that startled him with a scowl. "Stay quiet, Tsume, she could hear us!" He hissed, glaring at her with a dangerous glint.  
"Oh, so you don't deny that you have a thing for her! I knew that something was up when I caught your scent up this tree!" She hissed back with a wide smile revealing sharp teeth. In the meantime Kushina stopped to talk to someone and had her back turned to them._

_"Don't think that it's something you can spread without some sort of retribution." The blond whispered threateningly._

_"Sheesh, step down from the top of the mountain, Namikaze, it doesn't matter who I caught in the act, I wouldn't put the sentence on you." The girl with slated eyes and red triangles on her cheeks replied, puffing up to get hair away from the front of her face._

_Blinking rapidly in puzzlement, the blond gave her a questioning gaze._

_"You mean you don't know?"_

_"Don't know what?" He frowned._

_"Uh, that she's betrothed? To that Senju guy, Raibaru? I would have thought that with all this spying you'd be the first to know."_

_"I am not." He blinked again and stared at her for a moment in confusion. "Why Senju, though? Isn't he a noble or something?"_

_Tsume hit him in the head._

_"What was that for?" He almost shrieked._

_"For being stupid. Don't you read books or listen what people around say at all? Of course he's a noble, but she's from the family related to Senju! Heck, her grandmother was Hashirama Senju's wife!"_

_"Isn't it unhealthy, interbreeding, I mean?" He asked innocently._

_Her eyes widened indignantly and then she hit him again._

_"All right I get it. So, what are my chances?" He asked, not in the least defeated or discouraged._

_"Close to none." _

Weeks later

_He stood before her feeling utterly stupid. True, he knew he might make a fool of himself, but it still hurt. "What do you mean, no?"_

_Kushina fiddled with the fold of her dress looking uncertain and avoided his eyes, but her reply was firm. "I mean that I won't go out with you."_

_Her words stabbed deeper than he imagined was possible. He was sure that she would say 'yes', despite all the odds, yet here they stood, awkwardly staring anywhere but each other._

_"You refused Raibaru when he asked you on the date. To be truthful, I thought you were giving me a chance." The blond reasoned, still confused and hurt._

_"I refused him because he was being a git." She looked up sadly. "Don't get me wrong, Minato, you're my hero, and... I'd gladly agree, but, you see, even if Raibaru is annoying, stupid and arrogant guy, we're engaged, and I will not date another no matter how much I want to."_

_Her long dark red hair framed her face, long eye lashes gave a look of innocence, her light beige dress made her modest and Minato could only grit his teeth. "You're too good for him." Was all he said before he turned around and walked away in anger._

_Just the thought of the white haired and brown eyed Senju made his blood boil. So what if the guy was descended from Tobirama and was Jiraiya-sensei's cousin? He did not deserve the girl like Kushina._

_After he found out about engagement from his teammate Inuzuka Tsume, he stepped away for awhile to analyze his chances. Raibaru liked Kushina but nowhere near on Minato's level. His interest was limited to knowledge that she was skilled, beautiful, and was his._

_It was infuriating. That piece of rotten meat had no idea who Kushina was, how smart and loyal she could be._

_Not so long ago he held her in his arms, after he and Tsume tracked down the group of Cloud ninjas that kidnapped her._

_It felt so right then, to protect her and be there for her. And he suspected she felt the same. The sense of rightness. _

_So how could they be together? That engagement had to be broken. What if he confronted the elders of Senju family? No, he couldn't act rashly, first he had to speak with sensei. The man would be aware of the situation and could give an advice._

Half a year later

_The sudden touch awakened her and by reflex she flung her hands around. A second later she realized someone covered her mouth with a palm and it was what startled her. Her fists though, did not reach the attacker as he was prepared for her reaction, which upset her. _

_She blinked and turned to glare at the person responsible, but the folds of her blanket covered her vision and then engulfed her. Then she felt cocooned in her own sheets and taken over someone's shoulder._

_Lots of movement later the girl realised that it was her second kidnapping, strange was though, that this time she wasn't bound or knocked out yet. Still, all her kicking and punching did not have any effect. Even as she shouted her cries were muffled by fabric tightened around her._

_Two minutes later she felt she was far from her home and as seconds ticked there were less chances of getting free. As suddenly the attacker stopped, she prepared to fight for her freedom. Gently, someone let her stand on her feet and she responded by viciously untangling from her tight prison and hitting the first person she saw on the head._

_"Oww, what are you doing!" The figure asked miserably, as it covered its head. Blonde haired head._

_For a moment speechless, Kushina sputtered, and then fisted her hands in anger._

_"That's my line! What are you doing? Kidnapping me in the middle of the night as I am still wearing my night dress?" She shouted indignantly, pointing at her simple, white, knee reaching gown. _

_"Um, well... yes." Minato answered sheepishly._

_In response she stared with both of her brows raised high up her forehead._

_The silence stretched between them and by every moment it was becoming less funny and more serious._

_Minato cleared his throat and addressed her in manner that suggested he prepared a speech beforehand._

_"Kushina, you refuse each time I ask you out, despite the fact that you'd like to say yes. Your family is completely against the idea of us getting to know each other, not to mention the dating. So, I have no other choice but to steal you from the prison you call home and suggest that we... spend time together in secret."_

_Again, all the girl could do was stare._

_In awkward silence that formed, a drop of sweat slid down Minato's face. He was thankful that they were alone in the darkness of the night because he was ready to find a hole in the ground he could hide in._

_"Are you serious?" She whispered at last._

_Unable to use his voice in that moment, the blond just stiffly nodded._

_"It goes against my view of loyalty, honour and God knows what else." She placed her hands on her hips in a bossy manner. "Never! I'd never stoop to such things as secret dates! Who do you take me for!"_

_"I won't stop until I have you. I will pester you, stalk you, steal you again if I have to, just to be closer to you. I... like you and think I fell for you, Kushina-chan." _

_"Forget it, Minato. The whole world is against us. You may bother me all you want but the answer will be the same." She crossed her arms and stubbornly shook her head, but her eyes betrayed her. They said that she might have started falling for him too. Kushina continued her tirade but throughout it all Minato only nodded and grinned like an idiot, ecstatic about the prospect of fighting for her heart and winning it. _

A whole year later

_"Don't you feel the excitement?" He grinned, as they hid among the trees in the park. It was a night time, and the place was abandoned._

_"I feel conflicted!" The red head replied, but her smile said something different. She looked left and right, to make sure they were alone._

_"Don't lie to me, sweet heart, if you were conflicted, we wouldn't be here." The blond teased, lightly kissing her lips. Kushina smiled at that and initiated the next, deep and passion filled kiss they shared, where his fingers combed her striking hair and her hands found their place on the back of his head. _

_She was the personification of fire, as she tried to dominate in the dance of their tongues; he smirked doubly, openly and inwardly, and changed the angle abruptly to surprise her, which for she rewarded him with a moan. _

_A short moment later they parted to breathe a much needed air and exchange silly grins. At that time his arms encircled her possessively, the way they couldn't in public. _

_"Jiraiya-san covered for you again?" She inquired with a knowing smirk._

_"I believe he's quite proud of me."_

_"How he cannot be? You're meeting in secret with the girl that is forbidden to approach in Konoha. Any other would avoid looking in my eyes, not to mention touch me, and here you are, corrupting me in the worst of ways..."_

Another half a year later, Third Shinobi War

_"We'll attempt to surround our enemy and separate into two groups. The signal is the activated explosive tag, once we move in, show no mercy, just do everything to survive." The chuunin spoke. His stern expression put the rest of leaf shinobi on guard. They stood in the loose circle on the border of the lightning country. It was autumn and their uniform changed colours from dark green and blue to dark brown to accommodate the conditions. _

_"I don't think it's a good idea. They greatly outnumber us, and dividing into groups will endanger us." Another chuunin spoke up, folding his hands._

_"Are you questioning my authority, Namikaze?"_

_"I am. It's about our lives, after all. After we complete this mission, we have to travel to north, and there are more enemy forces we should bypass rather than face, and to do this all of us must be in top condition. Risking our mission now by using pretty strategy, even if it would take the opponent by surprise, is unacceptable."_

_Raibaru assessed the blond with a glare and other members of their team shifted nervously. "And what do you propose? That we march there all together and attempt negotiating?"_

_"I did not say that." Minato answered feeling uncomfortable under all the gazes suddenly directed at him but he did not show his reaction. "I meant that we should think this through before we take action."_

_"We have no time for this. The longer we linger the more chance at being found here. Stop arguing with me and do as I say!" The chuunin barked with irritation._

_"And end up dead? I think we all can focus for several minutes and prepare a better__basic and backup plan." At these words some of shinobi tentatively nodded._

_The Senju fisted his hands and flung them. "What is your problem, huh?"_

_"You are." Minato wanted to say more but pursed his lips. _

_The appointed captain of the team breathed through his nose in a heavy pattern but his voice was surprisingly controlled. "Then, let us solve this once and for all. A match, what do you say?"_

_As some of the team members exchanged alarmed glances the blond ninja frowned. "It's no place nor the time for this kind of thing."_

_"Are you a coward, Namikaze?" The chuunin taunted as a grimace formed on his face._

_"You're trying to provoke me, but I have a head on my shoulders."_

_Abruptly, Senju caught Minato's collar in a fist. "If you had a head on your shoulders you would not coerce my fiancée into having secret meetings with you!" He shook the blond with both hands in fury. "You think I don't know she betrayed me? Don't hear how people whisper behind my back?"_

_Minato grabbed Raibaru's wrists to stop the violent shaking. "I did not force her into anything! And it has nothing to do with our mission today!" _

_"It's about everything, Namikaze! Can't you just disappear? Why are you involved in everything?"_

_"Stop it." The blond hissed coldly and freed himself from hold. "We have a mission to complete, and personal affairs are meant to be resolved in our private time." Minato glanced at Tsume who stood aside of the group to make sure that their enemy haven't noticed their existence. She bit her lower lip and gave a sign that they were lucky._

_The moment Minato's eyes were turned away the white haired chuunin tackled him on the ground with force. The blond immediately retaliated with punches and kicks they soon exchanged in a fight. It seemed to snap the rest of the group out of the daze and they moved to separate them._

_"Don't protect him!" Senju yelled, attacking bodies that stopped him. Seeing that situation was putting them at risk more than anything, the blond chuunin gave a hard punch to his rival's face and without further thought pushed the lightening chakra in the captain's chest. It was a technique he created under his mentor's eye, that was meant to paralyze the opponent. So far, he had tested it on animals and it worked well, so instead of wasting time fighting, he increased the power of the jutsu for it to be successful._

_As Raibaru coughed and fell, everyone present reached for their weapons and waited for orders._

_"Enough, Kaira, tie him up and stay here. You two," Minato pointed at shinobi that he worked with before and knew abilities of, "get to the right side of the camp and make a big and loud diversion in ten minutes. Tsume and I will attack and distract them from left, rest of you will join the battle moments later, when our enemy is concentrated on our fake strikes." His face became as hard as stone. "No more time to lose." Minato looked at each of them. "Stay alive."_

_On silent signal, all of them moved to their positions, praying that if God watched over them moments before, he would do that still._

_The kunoichi that Minato assigned to protect the paralyzed body of their captain grabbed Raibaru's legs and pulled him to the base of the larger tree. Being seen in the open was a bad idea in her book and as she settled beside him she carefully covered both of them with illusion that merged their image with surroundings._

_There were still some minutes before the start of action and absently the girl checked if the captain had a well placed vest and net shirt in case they were under fire. Her gaze landed on his face and she wondered if he was aware of surroundings or asleep. And just like that, she noticed that his eyes did not move under eyelids. She raised them with a lifted brow and as a shiver ran through her at his motionlessness, Kaira searched for pulse._

_There was none._

Senju Raibaru was dead.

_Soon after that population of Leaf divided in two groups, one that was on Minato's side, and another, that took the side of the Senju family._

_Most believed that it was an accident, and witnesses claimed that Namikaze, who successfully led them through the mission and back to the base, did not express the wish to harm the captain and used the technique that he himself designed to paralyze the opponent. _

_Medics proved that Raibaru died from lightning shock that attacked his nerve system and stopped his heart, but could not say if it's power was accidental or not. _

_The Third Hokage declared the technique forbidden and Minato gave a vow to never use it again._

_After Jiraiya has fully taken the side of his student and stood against any punishment despite the fact that Senju Raibaru was his relative too, Tsunade and he became temporary enemies, and even after years since that time, relations between them were cold._

_Namikaze Minato was taken off duty for a year and put under strict supervision. He did not believe he deserved forgiveness from Kushina, Jiraiya and the Sandaime._

"At least she speaks to you now. Your relations improved." The blond muttered staring into space.

"I hope so... but it's a bit too little and a bit too late." The hermit replied, standing up to leave.

Minato turned to face his mentor. "Was there anything you found about the stolen forbidden scroll?"

Shaking his head Jiraiya slowly stepped out the window. "Nothing except it's probably already in Orochimaru's hands. Mizuki gave it to a snake summon before the team caught him, and he doesn't know where it went. But at least, we know what we can expect and from who."

Minato agreed with a solemn nod.

* * *

_Few months later  
_

Flashback

_There was a shout and probably because he so desperately wanted to leave the scene he followed it and discovered that after Shisui's death he could still hear the sounds of fighting._

_He turned to see the main building and to his immense shock a squad of masked shinobi was openly killing Uchiha who were still alive. And again, he was lost, as nothing made sense. _

_Someone threw a small body out of the main door, and his breathing stilled, as he recognized his own younger brother. Not bothering to keep an eye on other shinobi he moved to Sasuke's side, but before he got there, he was hit from behind and had to protect himself. And as he blocked and dodged he breathed heavily, fatigued after all the battles he had to go through within one day. He gritted his teeth and gathered the rest of his energy to push the attackers away._

_Spinning, Itachi prepared to grab his brother, but was stopped with the sight of the blade under Sasuke's chin._

_"I am glad you joined us, but as you can see, we're already done."_

_The eight years old boy scratched the arms of the man that held him with nails. He was crying and his struggling was just the sign of stubbornness, not strength. "They killed mom and dad!" The boy shouted hoarsely. _

_The realization that for the last half an hour he was chasing after the culprit but did not think to check on his closest family left him frozen in terror. _

_Itachi disliked his father, he did not trust his mother, he almost gave up on his brother, but that did not mean that he wanted them to get hurt. He knew what the clan planned and what preparations the council made, but everything was tied in a strange, incomprehensible way. What had Shisui got to do with it? Did the Yondaime know of what was happening?_

_While he was in shock someone shoved him on his knees._

_"Originally it was planned, that Konoha will hunt for Uchiha Shisui, who was disappointed in his clan and slaughtered its members. Now though, someone else has to take the responsibility."_

_The voice was tight and harsh. Remembering it, young ANBU looked to his left and found councillor Danzo. The words registered in his mind and he expected to find himself seething, but there were no feelings other than worry about his brother, who apparently, was the only Uchiha beside him alive._

_The old, one eyed and bandaged man came closer and smirked nastily. The clothing he wore was no different from what he appeared in on daily basis. The weight of his body was supported by the cane. "I have to admit that I was certain Shisui would defeat you with ease. He had more experience and knew of your fighting skills. It doesn't mean that my plans are changed though." The councillor glanced at the younger son of Fugaku. "There are just drawbacks." _

_"But how will you prove that I was the one who did this?" Itachi replied, narrowing his eyes._

_The old man gestured at the terrified boy, who soundlessly shifted his eyes between them. "I have the witness. Little Sasuke will remember your dramatic confession, the one you'll give him, after we erase his memories. You want your brother to see another day, don't you?" _

With a start, he woke up and found himself staring at the face of the blonde boy. Purple, mysterious eyes graced him with concern and then gained mischievous sparkle.

"What kind of shinobi are you, if anyone can sneak up on you when you're asleep? Or is it just me being that good?" Shirushi asked in a half serious tone.

"It's you being an exemption." The teen replied and looked aside to see the grinning face of Kisame. Behind them was the white forest scenery of Wave country in winter.

Itachi was surprised that the boy could sneak up on him with snow under the feet, it made such a crispy sound that dead could be revived. Must have learned that skill from someone in Akatsuki. On the side note... the sky was cloudy that morning.

The teen stood up from the spot under the tree, picked up the blanket and sealed it in the scroll he kept in his pouch. When he turned around the boy was stroking and scratching the head of the bright orange fox that reached his chest. The animal nuzzled its summoner looking very content.

As the youngest Akatsuki member Shirushi had a black cloak with only one red cloud, on the back, and to cover his features as he was not a known criminal, a wide hood, this though, did not mean he was a fully fledged member of organization.

"Time to go!" Hoshigaki called and Itachi didn't like the glint of excitement in those beady eyes.

"I don't see what you're happy about." The Uchiha heir spoke in monotone. "There is a reason shinobi start their career as genin performing D-ranked missions, and rise in power, skills and rank with time. Going after someone who's far beyond your abilities just to see what one is capable of is unthinkable."

They walked following the fox, and not for a first time Itachi wondered if Shirushi even knew what power was in his command.

"Come on, let the kid have some fun. He has to learn." The swordsman defended, and Itachi scowled.

"Starting with A-class?" Usually the teen's expression was stoic, but now annoyance, disbelief and worry shone through.

The blond looked behind at the pair mirroring his cousin's scowl. "I chose that man for a reason, you know. Besides, you two are especially appointed to step in if I can't manage."

"Arrogant brat." Itachi muttered.

Stroking the soft fur of the large animal by his side, the boy answered with a wide smile. "Love you too." Which put Kisame in a fit of good natured laugh.

* * *

Zabuza's face hardened as he studied the figures he hoped never to see again. The faces were different this time, but he recognized the cloaks.

Surprisingly, one of them he knew personally.

"Confrontations like that always happen for a reason." He mused aloud, after they exchanged greetings. The truth of meetings between nuke-nin rarely ending with both parties alive was left unsaid.

From familiar view of blue of Kisame, his gaze travelled to the shorter person, and this time he remembered the description that matched this one in bingo book.

"Oh hell..." Zabuza breathed out, staring at the S-classed shinobi that by all sources was said to be mentally unstable. S-classed swordsman or not, Momochi could try and fight someone who's style, temperament and techniques he knew, but when it came to fighting unknown and dangerous, he preferred using a 'tactical retreat'. That wasn't an option though, as they most probably would not let him go far.

After counting his slim chances of survival the hardened gaze of the swordsman travelled to the last and the smallest figure.

How strange that the pair took the trip with a child.

But that thought quickly reminded him of times when Haku was just a child too. Small, fragile and easy to shape. Even now, there was a kindness inside his apprentice he could not vanquish. This boy was slightly different. The most prominent thing that could be noticed, was fearlessness in his posture, face and eyes. At that moment Zabuza was glad that Haku stayed in town.

He wasn't at an advantage here. Water that could be used for his jutsus had been turned into ice or was in the form of the snow.

"You don't have much to worry about, for now. You see, the little boy here is itching to fight you, defeat you and most probably kill you in the process. Our, my and partner's that is, presence here, is just a precaution." Kisame answered, grinning and showing the row of sharp teeth.

Dubiously, the Demon of Mist looked at the smallest living thing to confront him and had to admit that he couldn't expect it. He fought lots of opponents and remembered to never underestimate or overestimate the enemy, but who would judge him for thinking little of the blond when one look was enough to say that this living thing could not be a challenge?

"Mmm, why?" Zabuza asked, not really getting it. Wasn't it a suicide?

The boy raised a brow. "Do you need a reason? I came to fight, not to chat."

If one looked closely enough, they could see amusement dancing in Itachi's red orbs, contrasting with cold expression. Momochi felt nothing, not even the cold of the weather, covered in bandages and clad in a greyish coat the hood of which was rimmed with fur.

Kisame openly rolled his eyes.

"It's a ritual, kid. Before you fight, while you fight, and after, you get to know each other, learn of your opponent, study your enemy, their reasons, thinking, their ways. It gets you closer, opens your eyes to life and death itself. Not performing that ritual you miss quite a lot."

Shirushi graced the new mentor with a sideways glare. "Never heard of it being a proper shinobi rule or a part of any code."

The Monster of Mist scoffed, completely ignoring the uncomprehending stare his former comrade directed at him. "That piece is always left unwritten."

A grimace formed on the soft features of the blond. "He's a traitor, that story is good enough."

With that statement Zabuza could agree and at the same time _disagree_. Has he betrayed his leader? Yes, but he did not betray the people of Kiri. Was that story enough for _one_ confrontation? Yes but it did not make him a better person in the other people's eyes.

That piece of story _wasn't_ good enough.

The boy's hand pulled two kunai from under the cloak he wore and it immediately put the bandaged shinobi on guard. He wasn't that stupid to ignore a major possibility that a pair of S-ranked killers trained the child to fight. No mentor would ever embarrass themselves by placing their student against an opponent he could not defeat or at least, face on equal ground.

Two blades became one, and Zabuza divided his attention between the brave boy and a dangerous pair of criminals. Even if they stayed where they were, he could not trust their word, as in the true shinobi code, there was _no_ code.

Soft steps took Shirushi forward to position himself in front of the man with a short distance between them. Eyeing the build of the man, his posture and sword in particular, the blond confirmed that the Demon of Mist had muscle power, lots of thick chakra, though not as much as Kisame, a water affinity, a sane dose of confidence and a large zanbato, that just like Samehada gave the new meaning to close and middle range style of fighting. His story though, the blond already partly knew.

He gathered the group of ninja holding the same views as he did and led the rebellion against the reins of Mizukage. Against his father, who at that time took the Mizukage's face. But that was beside the point.

To him personally, Zabuza did not do a thing, but he betrayed his father, and that at least, was a reason to fight the man. Choosing his target from the bingo book wasn't as easy as it seemed to come for Kakuzu. The man did not care who to pursue, as long as the numbers of money satisfied his greed. For Shirushi choosing a 'prey' was difficult, as he had no enemies, and no personal gain from fighting someone. Not even for some sort of revenge.

So after thinking of his options he went with going after someone who betrayed his father.

Itachi observed the stare match between the contrasting opponents. Momochi did not hold his weapon in hand, waiting for the boy to make the first move. Maybe the Demon of Mist believed that his speed was high enough to dodge every attack from the blond?

As he contemplated it, the boy took fast steps forward and in the last moment, raised the blade, controlling its angle as he got close. The swordsman, of course, dodged the attack stepping aside and let the blond continue. Four next arched slashes cut the air in much the same fashion and under white bandages, Momochi hid the smirk.

It was wiped off the second later when the speed with which the blade span became thrice faster. The tip of steel was too close to his side for comfort and grabbing his zanbato the Demon of Mist stopped it and used his strength to push the boy away, but surprisingly, he did not fight the new direction, and accepting it, turned his small agile body to thrust the second sharp end of his weapon at the man's back.

Only reflexes protected Zabuza from getting stabbed that quickly into the fight. His wide eyes gave all attention to the blond and he got a suspicion that he will be surprised quite thoroughly and soon. His divided attention quickly turned from advantage to mistake.

A moment later the boy was attacking but his moves did not look like motions of attacker aiming for domination in the fight. Rather, quick sidesteps accented by nimble body put the man on the offensive where he protected himself by evading and swinging his sword in a manner with which he defeated his foes. It was strange.

Itachi noted that Shirushi never met Zabuza's sword with his own blade, and if it happened, he let the man be the main force, where he changed angles and directions for his own motions seconds later. It was easy to explain, as the boy had no physical power to resist the pushing, he went along with it, adjusting to the patterns of the swordsman's fighting style, but at the same time, setting his own pace.

The first minute put Zabuza on guard, and he became serious and fully attentive. For the blond though, that minute was the warm up, which was proved by the toothy grin that was meant to taunt the man.

Having enough, the Demon of Mist manoeuvred the next exchange of stabbing and slashing moves to create the distance between them. Kubikiri Houcho was stuck in the ground as he used the large part of his reserves to create the Water Clones from surrounding snow. They rushed forward to engage the blond in a fight of five on one.

Shirushi did not move, surprised at the man's choice. A split second later, before the clones reached him from the gap Zabuza created, they were stopped by identical copies of the blond.

As the clones fought each other one on one, the man stared at the boy in shock.

He was not surprised that the kid knew that kind of jutsu, rather, he did not recall hearing the boy voice the name of the technique nor making seals with both hands, as was done in his case.

"What?" The blond asked, raising a brow at the expression on the man's bandaged face.

Zabuza promptly sobered. "Nothing." Once again he became serious and regained control over his outward appearance.

The puffs of smoke and splashes of water alerted the fighters that their doppelgangers ceased to exist. The man considered performing a Hidden Mist technique almost sure the blond relied on his sight ability, but that option was not appealing because when the boy would lose sight of _him_, he would lose sight of the blond, the Samehada wielder, _and_ the mentally unstable killer where both of the last mentioned were ranked as S-class shinobi. No, not appealing...

With a tilt of his head, Shirushi smiled widely and evilly. It unnerved the man who tried to prepare himself for everything since moment after moment he was closer to being cornered.

Holding the double kunai in right hand, the boy raised his left and Zabuza kept a close eye to swift fingers that made seals he could not recognize. One handed seals.

Propelling his zanbato in front of him to protect himself from the attack he did not know the name of yet, and still might never know, the man did not have to wait for the onslaught.

Abruptly, the ground in front of the boy erupted with ice spears and continued to do so in line till it reached the swordsman. Having little time to react, the man jumped aside tightly gripping the handle of his sword. As he rolled on the snow one spear managed to wound his shoulder blade. He ignored it, in favour of giving a silent point to the blond for attacking from the rare side. And another, for surprising him with an element that could only be used by bloodline wielders, such as Haku. Was that a coincidence?

"The kid is not treating it seriously, not that I mind, but it would be better if he had experience behind that confidence." Kisame commented, not taking his small eyes away from the scene. "But I'm impressed so far."

"Hn." Itachi answered, patting himself inwardly on the shoulder, for teaching the boy the Shadow Clone technique, and a few others. Not only was that ensuring the safety of the child in case he needed to do things without using his own hands, but that also built the trust between them. Sadly, he could not teach him genjutsu. No one could. Shirushi would never be able to use that art because he did not know what the world truly looked like. Or the colours of the world. Objects, people and surroundings did not shine, and the insides of living beings were not seen without dissection. Those rules though did not apply to the blond, and as his doujutsu was always active, he would never learn that. Genjutsu was about making your enemies see what you wanted them to see, and as whatever Shirushi showed his opponent would be from his own perspective, learning that skill was almost pointless. A pity too, since he and Madara had a lot to teach on that subject.

But it also meant that Shirushi could not get caught in illusions. That must've both pleased and upset the boy's father. Since his last failure in plan to motivate the boy by traditional means, he continued to come up with new strategies and ways to use the blond. Itachi saw many examples of similar behaviour in the Uchiha clan not to notice. But as much as it was devious, it was amusing. The boy was far too smart to be forced into anything.

In a blink numerous shuriken were shot in boy's general direction by Momochi's fast hand.

Unwilling to physically tire himself by dodging, the blond tilted his head and made few signs that translated as 'rushing wind, surround and spin, deflect'. The rotating wind was so strong it was visible, it fluttered the clothing and a braid of the boy impressively and swept away the snow from around the child and further. Shurikens could not penetrate that shield and instead were redirected by its whirling power. One by one sharp projectiles flew behind and on sides of Shirushi, who paid them no mind.

Kisame curled his upper lip in mild annoyance as he was forced to sidestep several of them. Itachi merely shifted his torso a bit, predicting that only one of flying objects could harm him.

"How did you do it? That was possible only if you have a bloodline letting you use Hyouton..." Zabuza asked, leaning on his sword and hoping that he could pull some answers out of the boy. At the same time he focused on the wound he received to gauge how serious it was.

The blond raised one brow in a very elegant manner reserved for rich clan members. "That's a secret."

The man's face fell. No answers, then. He could not aim to kill the child as repercussions would be unpleasant, the pair of known criminals would ensure that. At the same time, the game was over and he had to take control over situation.

Losing extra chakra for warming the snow for Water Clone technique, Zabuza created as many as possible, and mingled with them in the wide attack. As his doppelgangers became a distraction, he also added chakra to his limbs, to be faster. Before the blond clones came to support the boy in a fight, Water Clones took their majority out of the picture with the use of far reaching zanbatos.

The Demon of Mist took advice from the blond's book and instead of his usual pattern of swinging the sword from regular position, he retreated after every slash to make sure the boy did not know which of the attackers was real. Moments later he was satisfied with at least one gash on his opponent's arm and two on his backside.

Having a good view of the exchange Kisame soundlessly whistled, not a bit disturbed by injuries the blond received.

All abruptly stopped as Zabuza lost sight of the boy.

His clones no longer were a coordinated group as they darted their gazes left and right, looking for the small shinobi.

In much similar way as Shirushi, Itachi raised his brow when he could not pinpoint where the boy's chakra went and disappeared. If it was a Body Flicker, he could trace it easily, but the sudden disappearance was confusing.

Just before the features of all present furrowed, a clash indicated that both Kubikiri Houcho and double kunai resembling a spear met halfway to their targets.

Pure surprise described Momochi's visible face, and pure reflexes saved him from being pierced through. He ignored the fast reappearance of the blond focusing on the stalemate instead. He also found it strange that the boy did not lose cheerful mood after giant zanbato cut his skin, not too deep, but that should've been enough for any other kid to reconsider their idea of fighting an experienced ninja.

Knowing that with his physical strength he was at advantage, Zabuza pushed his blade further, intending to wipe the cheerful smile off, and it would have worked, if the kid did not stop the advance by grabbing his smaller weapon with both hands and placing a foot by the side of double kunai that faced the ground. It gave enough leverage to equal the power of one arm of the swordsman.

"Funny, that you simply won't go down. Quick and sharp, but is that enough?" The man taunted. His clones did not wait for any sign before they let their swords go down on the boy, most of them aiming for the neck and sides.

In the slow motion reserved only for those of the Uchiha bloodline, Itachi observed as from nowhere, Shadow Clones materialized behind every Water Clone, with their blades already sticking out of taller, more intimidating bodies. And just like that, water splashed around the two fighters, as uncomprehendingly, witnesses stared at the show.

All this time Zabuza's eyes never left those purple ones, and he wondered if he'd have to use all of aces up his sleeves. "That _had_ to be some sort of bloodline." Under bandages, he grimaced. "It had better be."

The blond was panting from amount of chakra he used to turn the tables in his favour. "You should be more concerned about the amount of me, not the entrance." One smirk later Shadow Clones started making hand seals.

But instead of finishing the sequence they twisted their bodies to avoid the rain of needles that came from behind the trees.

Few that got shot disappeared in the puffs of smoke. From above, one small grey ball fell on the ground by the fighters and immediately drawn their eyes. The swordsman stopped struggling and pulled back, where intervention came from.

Seeing his reaction Shirushi jumped back and away from the ball too. Rest of the shadow clones dispersed. Second later, it exploded releasing greenish gas that quickly obscured the vision of all present. Already suspicious and suspecting that Zabuza had help, the boy pushed the blade into the ground and spread his arms wide, to use the wind manipulation for clearing the air.

Kisame grimaced, irritated and sniffed the air. "Uh, classic poison, gets you all teary eyed and contaminates lungs. Do we step in?"

Without a sideways glance, Itachi replied. "Not yet."

As air became transparent the blond caught the sight of Zabuza getting pulled in a rectangle mirror, which was confusing. But before he could make a step forward to investigate, a painful cough stopped him.

Realizing that his health was more important than chasing the man, Shirushi placed his right hand on his chest and concentrated on giving his chakra healing properties.

The pair of Akatsuki members stepped by his side. "You should have moved away when you noticed that smoke. The colour more often than not indicates that it's a poisoning gas." An older Uchiha muttered in monotone.

Surprisingly, the blond snarled. "Not a problem. I am more concerned about finding him again. And his accomplice."

The Monster of Mist liked that attitude and grinned at the thought of hunting again. Itachi did not have that much enthusiasm.

With determination the boy reached the spot where his opponent vanished. Where before was a mirror, on the ground now was snow and water.


	11. Orochimaru

Edited by Floating On A Thought

"Speech."

**"God speech."**

_Emphasis on the word_

* * *

_Inspiration source: __**'Black Milk'**__ by Massive Attack _

* * *

Chapter 11: Orochimaru

_Konoha_

In the energetic and sometimes slack crowd of students that filled the corridor of the Ninja Academy in the time of break, Neji tried to stay quiet, aloof and generally in control of his expressions. Because each time some other kid made a stupid remark he fiercely scowled, and he heard that his scowl was scary, out of place and worst of all, _ignoble_.

The chaos, noise and general atmosphere did not help his exercise and he lifted his right hand to cover his eyes, nose and forehead as he walked through the irritating mob. The tips of his fingers gently rubbed the furrowing skin and the boy repeated that he had the necessary skill to ignore the pointlessly busy world around him. And just then, she had to start the shouting...

"...it's totally for free, you get the real physical training! I am using blunt objects, no fear! Regular sessions and you'll be the best dodger in Leaf Village!" Full of excitement, high pitched in a way only girls' were, that voice grated on his nerves.

Her name was Tenten.

She had long brown hair she displayed in two ponytails. She wanted to become a deadly kunoichi and make her father proud.

Sometimes she surprised others by showing she was smart.

And she had an annoying, _pestering bordering on harassing_, and wholly _disturbing_ personality.

"...I have experience!" The loud voice added.

She should have been born a boy, not a girl. It wasn't natural.

True, Neji was curious how she would develop into a ninja, but most of the time he preferred to satisfy his curiosity from afar. So, not really interested in changing that, he schooled his features and moved to bypass the scene the girl created.

"Me, choose me! I'll be listening your commands, Tenten-san!" The boy with inhumanly round eyes answered, waving his arms in the air, like she could not see him a metre away. Truth was, she just openly tried to ignore him.

"Is there anyone else who's interested and willing? Didn't I say it is for free!" She continued, searching with her eyes.

"They haven't built their courage yet! Let me be the example, oh all-mighty Tenten!"

Where did he get that hideous green suit? Were Neji's thoughts as he passed the pair on the way to next class. It was just his lack of luck that they were his classmates. But at least, they did not stick to him like other... fans of his. At least, the most freakish people stayed away...

* * *

"Would you stop making those stupid poses?" Tenten exclaimed indignantly as she held a dozen Shurikens in her hands. "I can't focus on aiming when you behave like a clown!"

As he noted to himself earlier, Neji preferred observing as others grew in skill from afar.

Darting between the leafless trees, the boy in green suit evaded the dangerous projectiles. Even blunt weapons were dangerous, because you always had to count the speed and weight of the object.

Sometimes it was comical. She took it so seriously, with concentration clearly seen on her face, that if it wasn't for Lee, Tenten would look like a true kunoichi. Instead, the presence of the other boy completely changed the way the scene was supposed to be grasped.

Never ready to admit it, Neji hid that his favourite pose was 'The Tiger', and he hated 'The Turtle' the most. It was ridiculous and he knew it, but sometimes it was so funny that he forgave them both for being weird.

"The Fist!" Lee proclaimed, raising his left hand in front of him to protect himself from the large scroll the girl threw at him in frustration.

"Amazing, that training pays off!" The green wonder declared with a too blinding smile and received another scroll that this time he could not dodge, and hit by it in the head, fell into the snow on the ground.

* * *

_Wave Country_

The sounds of falling drops from melting ice came from everywhere. Somehow it was warmer and the snow was merrily shining in unseen rays of the sun.

The Dome of White, blended with surrounding layers of snow, was the symbol of the final battle.

It was placed away from the nearby village, knowingly or unknowingly, by shinobi that worked for Zabuza. That at least, was how it seemed. They did not want civilians involved and hurt, or did not want to be interrupted and hence distracted.

Two black spots stood out on the white background of the Country that was buried under snow cover. Itachi and Kisame stayed by the line of trees, a safe distance away from the scene, only close enough to observe the proceedings, but too far to intervene immediately. The blond insisted that that way both he and Momochi would go all out about fighting. That they could not be serious with a pair visible steps away.

Akatsuki pair named the idea insane but decided to outwardly agree with a boy that could turn rebellious. After some short and private consulting, ravens, transformed water and shadow clones surrounded the area to be close enough in case Shirushi was too close to his... demise, as the Monster of Mist put it.

The Dome was created from ice mirrors that instead of reflection, showed the image of a young, dark haired shinobi that was the Demon's accomplice. Through the holes of his fake hunter mask he looked down with a worry at his Master, that in turn glared at their opponent.

The fear Haku felt was almost unexplainable. What was the true source of it? The blood covered, short in height form of the blond haired boy, or his insane, in their innocence and curiosity, orbs of purple? Unknown doujutsu? Was it the boy's inexplicable ability to let things go through him like he was a ghost, or his ability to use ice in a way similar to his own? Or was it the realization, that if there was one more incomprehensible thing about the boy, it might be the end for him and his master? The black clad child did not answer to the inquiry if he wanted revenge, or if he was ordered by someone to attack them. Surely he was not like some random shinobi that wanted to claim he defeated the Demon of Mist?

Laboured breathing filled the silence inside the dome with tension, and filled the air with white puffs of air. The blond ignored the blood streaming down the side of his face from the cut he received on the temple, and ignored the pain from the bruises that he felt each time he inhaled. It was worth the gratifying sight of an equally bloodied man, whose cuts all over the body slowly let the blood drip out.

Shirushi licked the split lip and measured the amount of chakra the man had left.

They could still fight for some time, and there would be no running. He was greatly annoyed when their confrontation was interrupted before. As it was the first time the blond fought someone seriously, he did not use all of his abilities, stalling the game and learning. Zabuza at that time, did the same; unwilling to take risks. Slowly they were becoming bolder and complicated their tactics, and if it wasn't for the intruder they would have learned who had more skill in the end.

Shirushi was even glad for the opportunity to vent his pent up frustration on the guy.

And he hated ice users.

From the deepest bottoms of his mind, a memory he suppressed what seemed like a long time ago, emerged. A white dress with yellow flowers, a warm loving smile, a scream. There was a storm, rain, running, tied hands, voices.

Somehow he didn't remember if he felt fear when he was kidnapped. He might have been shocked, but there was no trembling or any scream coming out of his mouth. It was_ her_ scream.

He left the past behind and memories became blurred, but then why was he so suddenly frightened by this teen, no much older than him? _These are my instincts_, he told himself.

It was neither right nor proper to feel fear when facing your enemies. It clouded one's mind and _prompted_ irrational actions.

With a glare directed at no one in particular, the boy suppressed inner reactions, uncertainty and anger he felt, to continue fighting. Smooth mirrors were a reminder, so destroying them seemed like a logical step further.

In stillness that reigned for a short moment, Haku acted first and travelled from mirror to mirror, throwing senbon at the blond to distract him and at the same time, give his master a chance to make a decisive blow.

Completely sure that Haku would not injure him Zabuza moved with a burst of speed to strike with his sword as many times as was possible, knowing that sooner or later, the blond would lose his grip on ability to pass through things.

Instead of dancing around the sword like he did a minute before, Shirushi jumped back. He crossed paths in the air with Haku and in a blink, entered the mirror the teen previously occupied.

...With a tilt of his head the blond noted that it was a strange sensation. He memorized the way the hunter jumped inside his space containing mirror and after some thinking decided that it wasn't that difficult. And if Zabuza could be pulled inside one, he could most probably enter one forcefully. It worked and he had to admit that this technique was ingenious.

As the pair of enemies stared at him in surprise, he pulled the tag from the hidden pocket in his sleeve and made several quick hand seals at the same moment as he exited the ice device on the outside. One snap of fingers and an accompanying smirk later, exploding tags that were attached to every ice surface from within _shattered_ all the mirrors into many tiny pieces with a deafening sound.

Prepared for the onslaught of sharp projectiles, the blond let the shards pass through his body.

The moment all the ice was on the ground, the swordsman and his partner could not be seen.

As Zabuza gulped the blood pill and directed his chakra into the mist that started covering the clearing, he asked if finally the time has come to pay for the past. He wasn't a man of honour, with steel morals and beliefs, and he had his regrets but he hoped that some deeds of kindness would one day outweigh his sins.

Now that he stepped on the path to help others, to change the life for better, it was suddenly at risk because some boy, who came from nowhere, decided to face him in battle without any significant reason.

By chance fate led him and Haku to the village in Wave Country, where after bringing peace to that place they were accepted and found a place to stay. They did not think that after killing Gato and taking the man's money people would call them heroes. Or that after Haku saved some random villager they would find a roof to stay under. All of that coupled with news about the new Mizukage and revolutions in Water Country caused the pair of shinobi to make a stop in their travels and search for new reasons to live. It was like a start of something both of them wanted for so long- peace, stabilization, security. He even entertained himself with a thought of creating a ninja academy in the area. But was his past always going to follow him?

Soundlessly, Haku gave a sign that he would position himself on the other side of the clearing. He nodded.

A grimace marred the blond's face at the sight of the thick fog. After a short study of it Shirushi was sure that it was made by Zabuza himself. He had more chakra at that moment than the ice user, because the teen used most of it producing the Dome of Mirrors, and his chakra had a different feeling to it. The teen who hid behind a mask had a very light, soft and soothing energy, too rare to escape notice. The fog was becoming thicker with each second, it was harder to breath; and cold temperature caused shivers.

"Usually I intimidate my opponents with some speech while they're lost in the fog. But frankly, I doubt it will work today. And I am _really_ not in the mood." The swordsman spoke, and his voice came from every direction, intentionally.

The boy ignored it, realizing that the man waited for an answer, to hear where he stood. After all, the man was known for his skill in killing enemies where sight was of no help.

Needles swiftly pierced the air with a quiet whistle, each time coming from one direction that kept changing. It proved that Haku did not have enough chakra to use clones, and regardless of his ability or inability to do so kept moving to escape the possible counterattack. Focusing on his surroundings and the ability to see though, Shirushi searched for the teen. He was tired but with glimpses through the mist, he managed to pinpoint where his attacker, that looked like a blurred silhouette, stopped to regain and even his breath.

One quick and shiny lightning technique later, that cost almost all of the chakra the blond had left, the masked shinobi fell on the ground unconscious. He was probably out of the fight for at least half an hour. Zabuza of course, did not see it, but he could hear the noise of electricity and would check the sound of the falling body that now was covered in vapour after getting burned by the jutsu.

Cautiously, the boy made his way there.

When he was about three metres away, he noticed the Water Clone of the man attacking from the right side. Quickly thinking he bent his body to dodge and raised the blade; at the same time, he saw the true Zabuza coming from behind. One stab at the clone and another at the true attacker later, the blond was splashed by water. In less than a second it happened Shirushi realized that somehow it was the real Zabuza that turned into water, but that was not possible, was it?

An intense pang between the spine and kidney took his breath away. The boy froze in shock. With knife plunged in the back of the blond the Demon of Mist quietly whispered. "That's called Body Replacement technique."

Zabuza received the stab that was meant for the clone, but it was the best he could come up with at the moment. The boy would not die that quickly, and he could still gather Haku and leave the scene as a victor.

The sensation of hot liquid running down was unpleasant. Was that blood? It couldn't end like this. Zabuza would just leave and all that fight would be a disappointment. All the struggle to see that the swordsman was stronger, smarter and faster? Didn't he want to learn? To _experience_ killing, and know what it's like to take life, to be a shinobi, a killer? He planned to play the game to its fullest, feel how different it was to fight a real battle, not train under the eyes of his mentors, and _experience_ the final act of ninja art by getting the man _dead_.

He wouldn't let him leave like this. He wouldn't let the man escape and leave him on the battlefield. He felt wet streams flowing down his body, but there was no pain, not yet. He could still make it.

The blond spun around in a rush, letting knife pass through him, and raised his right arm high, to cut through the air in a wide horizontal slash; and just a tip of his double kunai reached the neck of the man. It drew a thin, red line across it that looked like a scratch.

The man's dark eyes widened slightly, and his left hand shot up to cover the wound.

Bypassing his fingers, dark red blood streamed down and sideways. Momochi made a step back but then started to fall with his eyes opened wide in surprise.

For some reason his fall slowed down; and behind him, from a dark grey smoke, appeared a form of a tall, horned, human-like creature in a broad, greyish robe. Its appearance was too sudden and looked to be out of place.

Whatever emotions Shirushi might have felt moments ago were replaced with surprise, fear and for some reason, a slight familiarity.

**"Your first kill, last of your blood."** The entity spoke in a deep, low and powerful voice from behind the falling body of the swordsman. A quick glance around proved to Shirushi that the time stopped.

**"Your ancestors perished, thus it is my duty to enlighten you."** The creature's hand reached into the man's body in front of it and a vague, bluish shape of Zabuza started to leave the man's skin. **"Your clan has signed a contract, in consequence of which, the soul of each human being you consciously kill, belongs solely to me, and is never to be reborn."**

As the creature spoke, what was identified as a soul of Zabuza, got pulled into it. The blond had to admit that even if horrific, the process was attention consuming.

The boy blinked. "It doesn't matter who I kill?"

The entity grinned but it looked like a grimace accented by large, sharp teeth. "**It does not matter, to me. You, on the other hand, have a gift I bestowed on you, ability to judge and see, if the being lies or says the truth, if its soul is pure, or foul."**

Tilting his head in confusion, Shirushi asked. "My sight is _not_ a doujutsu?"

The creature ignored the inquiry and extended its hand. One finger touched the boy's forehead, sending cold, electric sensations. **"In exchange for the soul, you may ask for a skill, a knowledge, but you may **_**not **_**ask for a life and neither for a death."**

"Oh." Was intelligent reply. Why haven't he heard of that kind of thing before? Was it some forbidden secret? And what clan had managed to sign a contract with... "Who, or... what are you?"

**"I am the God of Death." **The creature answered and purple eyes followed the hand that moved away.

...with the Shinigami? That asked for some investigation. And he did not have any bloodline, just a gift from a God.

Thinking over everything he heard, the blond scratched the back of his head. "So... I have to make a wish, now that I killed someone?"

Yellow eyes gave a look to go on with it but all the blond could do was weigh possibilities. Here he was, beyond humanity and time, and his wish would be granted by the Death God. People would give many things in exchange to find themselves in his shoes. And yet no thought came to his mind. It was like for just one moment he forgot what he truly wanted, and it wasn't about some stupid skill, even god-like in a sense, but knowledge that he always craved for. Yes, if the snake man was in his place he'd have asked to know every jutsu that exists in the world. Kisame could ask for a change in appearance. Itachi, maybe for guidance, and Madara... for a power of some sort. But what did _he_ want? Faced with a choice to gain so much in one moment he _lost_ the desire. Maybe it would have been different if he had days, weeks and months to think about it... The God avoided naming anything... But Shirushi wanted to know truths about himself, about his origins, but... did he really want to know who were his parents?

"I want you to answer ...four (_A. N. in Japan the word for 4 is Shi – which is associated with death_) questions, Shinigami-sama." The creature nodded. "Why... when did you give me the sight?"

**"The night I was summoned to use you in the sealing ritual; I gave you these eyes as a repayment."**

Repayment for being used by God? That was quite generous. But that also made sense, he was a child then and did not agree to partake in a sealing ritual.

"...What was the name of the clan you made a contract with?"

**"The Uzu clan, belonging to the Whirlpool."**

The blond wasn't sure if he heard of it before. "Where was I born?"

**"You were born in Konohagakure."**

He grimaced in response. That was somewhat expected. He came to similar conclusion after lots of thinking. "What was ...sealed inside of me?"

It was a question he dreaded the most for a very long time now. He came from the Leaf village, was not an Uchiha, had a contract for life, and now he would know what others wanted to hide in him.

**"A demon, known as Kyuubi no Kitsune."**

After speaking that, the God of Death started becoming transparent, obviously leaving the scene.

He disappeared all too fast and just like that, time went on again, and the lifeless body of Momochi Zabuza finally fell on the snow covered ground.

Feeling the cold of winter back with full force the blond shivered and rubbed his face a bit, unconsciously smearing blood stains that were on the skin.

_I am what the Yondaime Hokage used to save the village._

_An object that history spoke of. Hidden somewhere, where evil hands cannot reach me. I am a jinchuuriki, a living sacrifice, like others before me. And I am just one more not so human being Akatsuki would like to find, catch and kill, getting hold of the monster inside of me in the process. Just like that green haired girl, that had a future before her erased, because someone decided to seal a demon in her, and someone else decided to take possession of it._

It never occurred to him that he could be the bearer of the Fox. Was it somehow connected with his animal contract? Could he speak with that Demon? If it was inside of him, why haven't he ever noticed? And while he was at it, did anyone know?

Unlikely.

If he himself did not know of it nor was suspecting it before, then it was the same with others.

He would have to keep it a secret, and weigh his chances of survival in case Akatsuki 'found' the Kyuubi.

The mist dispersed lazily and Shirushi looked down at the dead man. Zabuza still had his eyes opened, but there was no emotion in them. The snow around was covered in red, it looked pretty, like sorbet... The contrast in colours was welcome.

Impassively, the blond stepped away; his body heavy with tiredness and pain. He slowly made his way to the teen that served the man, the one that called him Master.

As the ice user lay on the ground, breathing soundlessly, the blond noted few things. His clothing was torn, his skin was burned where it was affected by lightening, but he still had a mask on his face. In detached manner, the boy pushed the mask away with his foot.

So that was how a pure soul looked. Untainted, clean, smooth, soothing and light. Shirushi decided that it was incredible, because for as long as he could remember only Aiko had that kind of aura. Were there really only two people he met in his short life that were _pure_?

Moments ago he was in a state of mind where he wanted the teen dead very badly, but now that he knew that it would take away the teen's chance to be reborn, Shirushi wasn't so sure. If he was such a good person that even his _soul_ reflected it, then he did not deserve that fate. And for that matter, there weren't that many who deserved to be erased forever, or whatever Shinigami did with their souls.

Yes, but he _still_ wanted to kill him.

But was killing the answer?

He kicked the unconscious teen. He groggily woke up. Seeing that he was disoriented, the blond, a bit clumsy in his exhausted state, placed a foot on his chest to keep him in place and spoke. "Your master is _dead_."

The ice user opened his mouth several times but no sound came out. He confirmed the words when he looked to the side and saw his master's bloodied, lifeless body on the ground.

And then he wept. Shirushi didn't know what the cry of an animal that lost its master, of a child that lost its parent, or of a woman that lost her dear lover sounded like, but suspected it would be like this.

For someone who was a ninja, that display was too expressive. But the blond did not judge him. He didn't know how he would react if he lost his father, so he kept the slight disgust inside.

"Will you... kill me now?" The teen asked between sobs. It looked like he even waited for it.

"Kill you?" The blond asked too, thoughtfully. He tilted his head tiredly, realizing that after the battle he wasn't in a mood to kill a defenceless ninja that looked like a very innocent, fragile girl.

"Please... I don't have a reason to live... Zabuza-sama was my life! I am nothing without him!" He cried, shakily covering his face with a palm of his right hand.

After that sentence, Shirushi understood that in this case living could be worse than death.

"I will not kill you today." The blond answered after a bit of thinking. "You will stay alive, you will continue existing, fighting, living to your fullest. And then, one day I will come, and I will see if you committed sins, and I will judge your soul. Then, depending on what I see, I may take your life."

It felt like he himself was a creature, like he had power to decide someone's fate. The feeling was consuming, amazing, and at the same time, uncomfortable. Probably because he _knew_ that in reality he did _not_ possess that power.

But nonetheless, with a last glance at the pitiful sight of the crying teen, the blond left the scene, satisfied with what he accomplished. His feet were taking him to the pair of criminals on the edge of the clearing, and before he reached them, Itachi stopped him from moving and went down on one knee, to check for the wounds he received.

"This one looks particularly nasty." Kisame commented, pointing at the last one. Itachi agreed and performed a few healing techniques he knew. It wasn't enough to completely heal the boy, but at least it closed the wounds and accelerated the natural healing.

* * *

_Days later, Akatsuki base_

With his arms folded, Orochimaru stood in the doorframe to the laboratory and glared at his fellow Akatsuki member that stood by the blond.

"Does it have to be him?" Shirushi asked slowly and looked at Itachi for confirmation.

"Zetsu's not in the building, Sasori will be back at a later date, Konan is busy. Or maybe you know someone else who's capable of checking and treating your injuries?" The pale man bit back unpleasantly.

Itachi noticed the frown on the boy's face but they had no choice. "Don't be capricious." He reprimanded softly and as Orochimaru stepped aside they entered the room.

It was wide and smelled of chemistry. Some corners held contents that left the bad taste in the mouth of outsider and both of the guests inwardly cringed at the picture.

Itachi helped the boy who stripped to his boxers to get on the half occupied – by harmless things, thankfully – table that Orochimaru had pointed at and watched the proceedings.

The man made some seals for a diagnostic jutsu and for quite some time inspected the child. Then he used some advanced healing techniques Itachi recognized, which put the teen's suspicious mind to rest; but he knew that there had to be a reason for the blond's unwillingness to be close to the man.

Orochimaru wasn't exactly liked by members of the organization, even though his inventions were admirable. Something about his nature, looks and overall behaviour that put you on guard regardless of the situation. Itachi wondered if the man had morals and limits to his experiments, and doubted _that_ most of the time. Even Sasori, who appeared heartless, restless and generally irritated, had a sense of humour that added humanity to his appearance. Orochimaru on the other hand, had something about him that made you think twice before you crossed paths with the man. It was a feeling that he would seek vengeance if you went against him.

Keeping his eyes on the man's hands Itachi observed his actions, not trusting him to heal the child out of simple kindness.

"The damage was not as serious as you described it to be, Itachi. That, or you are more skilled in medic area than I suspected."

Or the blond just healed really quickly, thought the dark haired teen.

After Orochimaru applied some ointment and gave instructions about resting and knowing the limits to training activities, the pair of Uchiha were ushered into the corridor. As the door closed, the blond dramatically exhaled. "That went well."

"You did not expect it to?" Itachi inquired in a monotone and led Shirushi down the corridor to the stairs.

"You did not either. But for your knowledge, that guy is creepy, if you haven't noticed, and I'm not sure I want to know what goes in that head of his. Didn't you see him 'smile'?"

Itachi blinked. "He was serious, annoyed and looked insulted. I did not see any smile."

"That's because it wasn't in his face, but in his eyes. He radiated with glee, satisfaction and accomplishment; I swear I thought he was gonna start dancing if it wasn't for that display of scowls and arrogance." He scratched the back of his head. "Wonder what he was happy about, though."

* * *

_Intelligence Division, Konohagakure_

Quietly humming, a man with scars on his face and a black bandanna on his head sat by the desk and read the contents of the folder in his hands. The silence in his office was disturbed only by distant sounds of steps outside, as various officers, ANBU members and other workers were lost in a daily routine.

Morino Ibiki was up with the rise of the sun and since it was already noon, he had completed many tasks that needed his attention. At this hour he would be taking a break, a walk through the village, have lunch, but surprisingly, he was still in confines of his office.

When he found a file on the edge of his table and started reading he assumed that he'd just place it in a fitting shelf in the archive and forget about it for as long as the case did not surface again. But the further he went, the more his attention was centred.

Apparently, some random bounty hunter found a grave of one of seven swordsmen of mist and gathered both the corpse and the sword of the man to get a reward. That guy sold the 'items' but was followed by someone who appeared to be the swordsman's student. In the end that 'student' attacked the hunter and the bounty facility and left with the sword, claiming that the soul of its owner continued to exist inside of it as it was the extension of its master.

That information reached Konoha because the facility was under the Leaf surveillance. It wasn't exactly interesting or revealing, until something started nagging in the back of Morino's mind when he read the last pages.

The report included the description of the body, identified as the corpse of Momochi Zabuza.

The swordsman died fighting; fighting an opponent who was a lot smaller in height, strength, and maybe even age, though there was a possibility that he fought a woman. All of that could be said from the depth and the angle the cuts were made by. The blade was sharp, and most probably, was part of the long weapon, what weapon though, was a good question.

If all of the slashes were made at the same time, the man would quickly bleed to death. But each needed an opening. Chaotically, distanced from each other, those cuts formed a system that looked vaguely familiar.

Ibiki rubbed the side of his face and stood up with a frown.

His feet took him out of his office and quietly humming, he walked to the stairs that led to lower levels of the building. File in hand, greetings to the passing co-workers, he pushed open the door with the inscription 'Archive'.

A sigh escaped him at the darkness of the place and without looking, his right hand flicked the lights on.

Rows upon rows of shelves held data in chronological order, placed here for years since the archive under the Hokage tower had no more free space.

His steps seemed loud and echoed throughout the expansive room as he walked to a corner that interested him the most.

Ignoring the gathered dust on the documents, he picked them one by one, opening, looking through the pages, and moving to the next shelf, searching for something that would trigger his memory.

Minutes ticked by and when he became frustrated, half an hour already passed by unnoticed. The vague memory and the answer on the tip of his tongue blurred with the rest of information he gathered while checking every folder. Ibiki decided to set the matter aside for later and come back here when he had more of his precious time when his eyes caught the lines that immediately brought his mind into focus.

'_...the inspection of the area did not give many clues... Border of Fire country... the five bodies of Konoha assassination unit and four bodies of presumably Water Country refugees had similar lethal injuries that led to conclusion that the carnage had one culprit... Few versions of the motive behind the slaughter were not confirmed...'_

That was what he was looking for. A slaughter from five years ago, a case that was closed because there was no motive, no culprit, and no traces that could lead to answers. Deeply frowning he got to the medical report and read the pages. Konoha shinobi were killed quickly, without a thought or care, but four others gained more attention from the killer. Three of the four bodies received cuts in many places, in astounding speed, as if they were attacked in vengeance or anger, and the last one was a puzzling case. The only wound there was, must've been inflicted by the victim himself, and there was a theory that the man was _forced_ to kill himself under the _threat_.

That wasn't confirmed though, because usually when one committed suicide, it was done by plunging the knife in their heart, stomach or something creative like lungs or cut wrists. This one though, plunged the blade in his own throat, which could be explained in a way where the killer held the victim's hand and forced it, but that had... small merit.

And the last but not least, a mystery of bodies being left on the scene of the crime. Either the culprit was in a hurry and had no time to dispose of the corpses, or he, or maybe even she, did not care.

One thing Leaf investigators knew for sure, whoever did this, had amazing skills in stealth and speed.

With a click of his tongue, the man picked his 'noon folder' and compared the two.

The death of Momochi was not as quick, clean and expert as the deaths from the old case, but he could see the similarities, in the way the cuts were made, their placement, a system behind it, while a simple gut feeling told Ibiki that his suspicion reasonably _needed_ some further investigation.

Documents were placed back on the shelf. Steps echoed around the room.

Lights went off.

The man left with one thought occupying his mind.

Whoever the culprit five years ago was, it looked like _today_ he or she had a student.

* * *

_Ame_

What was it about Akatsuki that when you thought you know everything, you found one more mystery, one more piece of the puzzle, one question more that emerged from the walls of the corridors that were inviting and unappealing at the same time? Without a doubt gathering dangerous individuals in one place promised to bring adventures, troubles and secrets, but surely there was a limit to everything.

That was what Sasori thought about as he contemplated the members of the organization and their goals. The main reason Akatsuki came to life did not seem to interest them in the least. It was a blanket over their own roads.

And to think that despite all that the group steadily gathered bijuu and progressed further.

Hiruko slowly moved through the entrance of the building and Sasori squashed the _urge_ to sigh or to roll his eyes that sometimes appeared at the most inappropriate moments.

Kakuzu wanted money and could care less what the bijuu were used for. His partner Hidan had serious mental issues because it wasn't healthy to get so much pleasure from killing people.

Konan looked like she wasn't sure about Akatsuki plans but nonetheless, followed Pain, who was powerful, wise and determined in his craziness, not that Sasori himself cared about this part.

That Tobi character was unpredictable, insane, and therefore very dangerous, even though he behaved childishly most of the time.

Zetsu was knowledgeable, devoted, but he rarely agreed with himself so trusting him even as a co-worker was risky.

Kisame just wanted to have fun in some company. Period.

Itachi was a suspicious character. Not a threat yet but he was certainly getting there.

And Orochimaru...

At that moment Sasori stopped by the door to the room where he and his partner worked most of the time. He had to put here a bag of rare ingredients, but the form of suspicious character mentioned by him earlier stopped his proceedings.

* * *

Was it luck that Orochimaru had an important meeting with some informant and Sasori was not back yet?

Itachi treated it as one and casually walked down the same corridor that he previously visited with the blond child.

His steps were casual, and despite some inner tremors and doubts, the teen decided that he would face whatever would come with a stoic disposition. It wasn't like this hadn't happened before, but the difference was, half of the organization did not trust him. It wasn't as bad as it was with Orochimaru, a fellow Leaf criminal, but still Itachi wanted to avoid attention and move his third position on the list of suspicious members down several notches.

Some things though, could not be helped.

Like a man with a purpose, he entered the second to main laboratory of the pair of scientists and turning the lights on looked around.

Chemistry wasn't his favourite subject but if it was, Itachi was sure he'd feel envy.

Many dangerous things could be created in confines of such a room, Itachi thought, his fingers stroking the ring on his hand. Dangerous and significant things.

Among the walls of colourful jars and vessels he could recognize only few substances. Notes left by them were written by both Sasori and his snake like partner, but at the moment he wasn't interested in those.

Finding a counter with folders and documents Itachi proceeded to look through them.

The results of study and examinations, experiments, reports. Putting that all in stack he calmly opened the shelves below and looked inside.

Finally in a row of folders he found Orochimaru's personal pack of papers that bore his comments, inscriptions, and signature. Itachi wasn't sure what he was looking for but knew that he would recognize it when and _if_ he found it. There had to be something that not only explained but _showed_ the results of the man's unusual interest in the blonde boy, rare bloodlines and Uchiha eye in particular. If he was so smart and dedicated to his work, then he must have made steps toward obtaining whatever he was interested in the most. Sasori has already proved that there was no such thing as impossibility when he acquired immortality by becoming the very weapon he controlled, a puppet, a doll, that could be fixed, changed, upgraded even, and defied the laws of time. Not all of Akatsuki members knew of it, of course, but Itachi could literally see it with his eyes and Orochimaru was bound to come by this knowledge sooner or later, as the pair worked together.

If someone like the pale skinned, slinking man was motivated by this every day, then without a doubt there was nothing that could stop him from achieving his goal of immortality, or learning every jutsu in the world, though, both of that dreams were tied, as one probably required the other... And though it would seem that some of these documents should be classified and safely hidden, Itachi was glad that it was in the reach of his hand.

There, a sample of DNA compared to another one. Material was a hair taken from Shirushi. But who's DNA Orochimaru would compare with this? He couldn't know that Tobi was Madara, and Madara was Shirushi's father. The second sample had numbers instead of a name and _intrigued_ by underlined conclusion- MATCH.

Was there a list of samples?

Trying as hard as he could to keep the air of casualty around himself, the teen delved deeper into the shelf.

That must have been a miracle that the list of new samples rested on the most glaring place, the work table, but Itachi ignored lucky stars in favour of searching for the numbers that must have had a name.

...Namikaze?

...No, it wasn't possible. Where was logic? Hokage-sama's son had cerulean blue eyes and visible whisker markings on the face. He disappeared without a trace. That irony could not be serious and had to be a joke!

"_...Shinigami-sama said that the initiator of attack will face his punishment as well, but we still have no evidence against the suspects..."_

Itachi had the evidence. Madara all but confessed to be responsible. And that meant that he could be in some way confronted by the God of Death.

Did that then consequently mean that... Naruto was placed in Madara's hands? Because that was the blond's true name, and that was the only conclusion Itachi could come to.

"For what reason are you visiting, Itachi-san?" An all too familiar voice spoke. Now Itachi knew who taught the blond how to move soundlessly.

For a moment frozen by unexpected entrance the teen quickly assessed the situation. Sasori stopped behind him and had the view of his back only, so he did not see which of papers Itachi held in hands, if at all. Skilfully, the main problem – a completed test – travelled to the insides of wide sleeve, and with the second less problematic document in hands Itachi turned around to face the host of the place.

"Leader-sama ordered me to deliver a certain report."

Hiruko made several steps forward and then after calmly looking through the pile of papers on the counter Itachi checked earlier, pulled out one and gave it to the teen. "This one?"

Blinking once, sharingan wielder kept his face stoic and reading a few lines admitted. "Must have slipped my attention."

Deliberately slowly, with his artificial eyes staring up at the teen, Sasori took hold of the edge of the other document Itachi still held in his hand and pulled it. His eyes then scanned the contents. "Ah, advanced research Orochimaru works on." Seeing the dark and raised brow Itachi inquiringly presented, the puppeteer continued. "I usually... ignore most of his experiments and findings."

"Usually?" The teen subtly prompted, sounding half curious half mocking. It was hard to tell.

Sasori gently placed the paper by other folders. "Practically all the time."

Itachi nodded. "I think I'll take it as advice then, Sasori-san, and follow it."

With another exchange of nods, the teen left and Sasori quietly contemplated what had occurred.

There was a high possibility that Uchiha came by _that_ information. And the most troublesome was the fact that Sasori did not know if he could trust him. And it wouldn't be so bad if he knew what was on the mind of that young suspicious criminal. After all, Orochimaru was just as untrustworthy, but the puppet user knew what he would do with information. In that time Sasori regretted he ever mentioned to his partner that the Fox vessel was most probably the son of the Yondaime. Before the man somehow managed to make the bloody test. Orochimaru would suspect that the Leader knew of this and waited till the right time to extract the demon. He even made a scene about it, because having a living study material and denied to touch it irritated him to no end. Sasori had to explain that the Leader wanted to 'use the jinchuuriki in the best of ways before extracting the beast'.

And of course, Pain knew nothing of it. Or Sasori hoped so.

And then came this unpredictable character of an Uchiha killer that simply _dug_ the information out and left with it, outwardly agreeing to _keep_ quiet about it, but not giving a reason to trust him with it.

The tight knot loosened and the puppeteer did not know how to fix it. After all, he liked the kid and quickly deduced that Akatsuki did not know of what he truly was.

And Orochimaru...

* * *

Without a doubt, Sasori knew.

Even if Itachi's face was outwardly cold and emotionless as he entered his room, his eyes glowered dangerously in unknown direction. Because suddenly it seemed like everyone except for him knew.

Blood boiling revelation and all Sasori did was say that he ignored it.

And what did that truly mean? That his mission about finding the Nine Tailed Fox was a fake, a sham?

No, impossible. Madara would have known. He wouldn't have asked all those questions if he knew. Pain wouldn't organize the search 'party', namely Itachi and Kisame.

So, what, Sasori knew, Orochimaru knew, he simply found out, and the rest? Was that the reason why he was supposed to stay quiet? Surely the puppeteer did not trust him that much?

More questions than answers.

He had to concentrate on facts.

The pair of scientists and he included since today, the group of three, knew that Uchiha Shirushi in reality was Namikaze Naruto, the son of the Yondaime Hokage.

All three of them therefore knew that he was a jinchuuriki.

Neither Pain, nor Madara knew of this, and if they did, they played fools far too well. The question was, who else knew, and if they did, what did they plan to do with that knowledge?

Whoever else had access to that bit of information, could not be trusted. Whoever else it could be, was an Akatsuki member, and this organization had a goal of gathering all the bijuu.

At that thought Itachi heavily sighed and came to one conclusion.

At the present moment he was the only person _sincere_ about protecting and caring for the boy, with or without the knowledge of his origins.

* * *

Namikaze Minato had a high level of chakra control, Madara decided, as he inspected a rat, holding its tail in the air.

This experiment started with a jutsu from the 'forbidden scroll', created by the man when he was a chuunin; the technique was tested and used, and then banned.

Said to be a deadly lightening attack that was created to paralyze, that jutsu gathered Madara's attention, because despite the required contact with the victim, it was relatively easy to perform... Unrefined chakra control would bring the desired lethal result while only someone with chakra control of the medic would be able to use it in a way it was created for. But Madara did not mind that, throwing the dead rodent to the eager and patiently waiting cat.

He sat on some random box outside, beyond the border barrier of the base, with a cage full of rats of various colours in his hand and a brown cat with white stripes by his feet. It spotted the opportunity to get a meal and fearlessly approached him when he wiggled the rodent a bit in the air.

The little area was deserted but nonetheless, the mask was firmly placed on his face. No longer the one with the 'flame' design, but bright orange with a swirling one that concentrated on his lonely visible eye. The present from Konan baffled him but her glare told it all. Wearing that piece of art was an order. He could complain, but wasn't really in a mood, besides, it quite suited his 'Tobi' persona, and Shirushi loved it on first sight.

Sliding his hand into the opening of the cage he grabbed another rat to confirm the test one more time. Mentally he regretted that he could not test another jutsu from the scroll. It worked in similar way, forming an impulse that affected the physical body, but to observe the results, one would need an intelligent, bigger animal, or in the best case, human. From what he gathered, you could turn your victim blind, deaf, numb, and induce anosmic and ageusic. Again, for that, one needed physical contact with the victim, but the idea was so fun that he couldn't ignore it.

The man's giggles did not disrupt the cat from chewing but anyone walking by would find themselves disturbed.

* * *

A flashy fight was coming. Or as close to flashy as one could get when a perverted killer faced a seemingly emotionless one.

Not yet, though.

Itachi had a gait like no other. Graceful, minimal in its movements, resolved, slightly nervous and at the same time calm, like he was not in a hurry and was actually bored. Sometimes there were so many conflicting emotions about him that you had to suspect he had split personality.

Orochimaru had strange qualities. There was grace about him, calmness and resolve too, but you could detect smugness, disdain, and a hidden agenda of some sort that accompanied him everywhere. That man was one suspicious egoistic bastard that could not be trusted but one could not deny Orochimaru's determination was to be admired. He always strived and worked hard for every little thing he made, studied and interested himself in.

What Itachi thought was a spy game, in reality was a game of 'hide and seek'. The pale skinned criminal noticed that he was followed a long time ago, but continued to go about his business in town. He entered shops with plants, weapons and probably for the heck of it, clothes. From a distance, Itachi observed and followed him, in a subtle, skilled but obviously, _ineffective_ way.

From not that much of a distance, several metres to be precise, Shirushi walked behind Itachi, musing over the drama that was taking place and over the noodles he obtained for himself that afternoon. The box was in his hands and he eagerly used chopsticks to catch the tasty, escaping ribbons while walking through the crowd.

Unbelievable, the teen was supposed to be a genius and an experienced ANBU in the past, but could not hide from the older shinobi, and at the same time, was completely oblivious to the younger one right behind him.

On some level Shirushi pitied him at that moment.

Their stroll continued for another half an hour where the snake summoner purchased three poisons, arguing about the price of each for the half of that time and creating an embarrassing scene. Orochimaru did not look like he noticed, or cared for that matter.

The crowd and village guards with rinnegan emblems on their attire stayed away or simply averted their eyes. It was officially known that the village Leader approved of every individual in a cloak with red clouds, fortunately or unfortunately.

Shirushi used negative energy most of that day, so he wasn't noticed by anyone, even if he walked in step with Itachi. Once he caught the basics of 'shadowing', the rest was not all that hard to grasp. He was and wasn't there, so if he didn't specifically try to gather someone's attention, for the most part, he was treated as the air around. It was the first level of that skill, while the second gave an ability to merge with environment in form, and the third, to stop being a part of surroundings, therefore to become invisible and untouchable.

Orochimaru turned to walk down the stone stairs that led to the lower part of the town, which at the moment wasn't as developed as the part they left behind. Somehow, the tension between the pair seemed to rise, and the blond noticed that Itachi finally realized that he was not as stealthy as he would have liked.

Somewhere between going down, waiting for someone to start something and really just finding oneself in the middle of the road in the company of a questionable ally, the pair stopped. The cruellest of the sannin turned around to face his stalker with an expectant smile. And not really one to discard the civilized approach, Itachi, after a brief pause, shortened the distance between them.

The blond could not stop his hands from wriggling and legs from swinging as he felt the need to move to sate anticipation. A thick tree branch under him did not react, thankfully, and he prepared himself to witness an amazing show; in the best point of view, he noted with a practically beaming face. And just luckily or accidentally, he still had the snack!

"My, my, whatever are you doing here alone, Itachi-kun?" The snake summoner asked, clearly trying to display his dominance over the confrontation, speaking to the teen in a manner that showed he had authority over the younger member of the organization.

The teen raised a brow in response, staying silent. Shirushi admitted that was cool. Let the bad guy do all the talking...

"I admit that at I am impressed with your stealth, but looks like extended periods of time in the crowd single you out. What's on your mind now? You are hard to figure out." The man continued, his smile acquired a sick, perverted trait. "On the first glance it just looks like you're a cold, emotionless, living and killing machine, on second like a lost child in the clutches of circumstances, and on third like a witted individual that plans something incredibly brilliant and nasty, and that plan for some reason concerns _me_."

"To me it looks like one of the sannin let me get a look at his brainwork." Itachi answered, monotone and deadpan.

The man shrugged.

Shirushi observed the exchange with a gaping mouth, chopsticks forgotten half way to that destination. So that was what Kisame the shark meant when he spoke about a ritual before and after the battle! It was utterly stupid but it was also enlightening.

"Everybody knows what I want. The most interesting question now is what _you_ want, Itachi." Orochimaru informed, making a semi serious face as his hands slightly moved on their own accord, as if itching to grab the sharingan prize that teased him.

"If I said I want peace, like Leader-sama, I doubt you would believe me." The teen responded, omitting sincere responses. The man simply played with him as much as he played his own persona.

"Leader-sama, of course, what a perfect example of greatness. Wonder why he discarded your abilities so easily, ordering you to find the last beast and knowing that it's under our noses."

The red eyes marginally widened at that, and Orochimaru smirked. The man thought that Itachi was not informed of that bit just as most part of the organization, and Itachi was shocked at the way the man so quickly shared with it. If he could throw secrets of that magnitude so carelessly, then he was capable of creating disaster without really trying.

"Surprised?" The man asked and made a step further.

The teen narrowed his eyes and abruptly, Orochimaru stopped.

Shirushi, who was intently watching, saw a strange reaction to his cousin's chakra from the snake summoner's head. It looked like a jutsu that affected body responses.

"I can't believe... you trapped me in a paralyzing genjutsu." A visible excitement overtook him. "Without voicing the technique, or making necessary seals. What powerful eyes... spectacular."

"I can't believe your inability to hold your tongue." Itachi scowled. The man tried to move, but it only made him tremble and shiver as his limbs refused to follow commands.

Seeing Orochimaru struggle and direct a deadly glare at him the teen decided not to prolong their conflict, and move to its conclusion.

The swirling chakra of blue and black colours covered the least favourite Akatsuki member and Shirushi leaned forward unconsciously, to have a better look. Again there was no jutsu to see, but rather, the effects of one.

"Eeeeh... Bloody blasted gen-fucking-jutsu..." The blond quietly whined, grimacing at the display. The pale man was covered in sweat and lost the smile that unsettled so many people. The cause of this had to be amazing but only the victim was the witness. Shiru often said illusions were dismaying, no matter the result. They were too subtle, too precise and could never be a part of epic battle, that was at least, what the boy thought.

Like he had no care in the world, Itachi calmly pulled out kunai from its sheath, and covering it with some chakra that enhanced its sharpness, cut off the man's left hand. Without it, there was considerately less amount of techniques the man could use.

Trying to be quick, Orochimaru moved the stump to the sleeve of his other hand, where was a tattoo for summoning, but the teen noticed the movement and grabbed both of his forearms. "All of your tricks and jutsus are powerless against these eyes, Orochimaru. But your vast knowledge does not leave me much choice. Tsukiyomi."

There was the genjutsu again, intensive and bright in its power, and Shirushi realized that Itachi planned to simply kill the snake like man to get rid of the problem. _Which_ problem though? What would that accomplish? It looked like at least two Akatsuki members knew of the fox, so why were there no plans to extract it? Wait, Madara and Pain did not suspect a thing. There was something fishy here. Whose side they were on? Orochimaru certainly wasn't the type to protect him and proved that he would not stay quiet about this secret that wasn't so secret anymore. Itachi though, was a different matter.

The older male slumped to the ground but the red eyed shinobi did not look perfect either. In mere seconds he lost more than the half of his chakra reserves and became physically weak. The very effective and obviously dangerous illusion has taken its toll on him and the simple choice of action Itachi took confirmed the gravity of situation in the blond's eyes.

The teen panted, his face marred with a frown. Kunai in right hand, without questioning his conscience he prepared to turn the man into a corpse and face the consequences later.

"How will you explain his death? They will think that you did that intentionally. You know, premeditated murder..." A very familiar voice spoke from above. Itachi turned his head to look up and to the right, and saw the blond on the tree. With a box of noodles on his lap, a serious expression (for once) behind a mischievous smile and legs that were slightly but visibly swinging in the air. How much did he hear? For how long he stayed there, watching? At that moment Itachi felt lots older than he actually was. One burden after another seemed to pile up on his shoulders and now he had to deal with this...

"I killed him in self defence, he attacked me with intention of obtaining my doujutsu." He replied hoping that the kid got the hint and would accept the story. He still didn't know if Shirushi heard every word they said.

"You fought, you won and then he was dying and you did not deem it necessary to bring his half dead body to the base and question him or torture for being a traitor or whatever..."

"When you put it that way... Well, I can always say I got carried away." The teen replied tiredly and made another step closer to the worldwide hunted criminal.

"He knows something he shouldn't, right?" The boy asked stopping his advance again, and jumped down on the stone stairs. He seemed hesitant at first, but then gathered his bearings and walked to stop in front of him. "That's the real problem, isn't it?"

Itachi's hand that held the weapon started, and his grip tightened. It was frightening.

The kid knew.

He _heard_ and he _knew_ and _understood_.

"...Yes. That's the real problem. But I can't simply erase that knowledge." He answered sadly, not fully comprehending how it was so _easy_ for the blond to accept the things as they were.

"What if you _could_ erase that memory, all his memories? Tell the story about him running away. Because he attacked you and was unsuccessful, and thus became a traitor."

Eyes wide opened, the black haired teen looked back at the bleeding, unconscious man, imagining that he could just disappear without memories and leave them alone. And then some random hunter would engage him in a fight, defeat him and then...

Abruptly, the empty smelly box that used to contain noodles was shoved in his hands. The boy calmly stepped to Orochimaru and tilted his head in thought.

Shouldn't be that hard, he mused. Besides, that was a perfect opportunity to see another proof of the theory. If innocent person would become a sinner just like everyone else with time, could the bad person start their life anew and be different?

From Itachi's point of view Shirushi started making hand seals that were more than confusing, being one handed and without symmetry, and then pulled the man's head up to place his hands on either side of it.

Mere seconds later, he retreated and the man was still unconscious. He did not look any different. But Itachi wasn't sure what he expected to see in the first place. Maybe a disoriented man that kept asking what his name was?

"Are you sure you have successfully erased his knowledge?" He was obviously sceptic but could not help it. Maybe if he used his sharingan to observe it he might've seen something enlightening, or interesting, but honestly, he was too tired for that.

The blond raised a brow as if to ask 'you doubt me?'

Itachi sighed and the boy shrugged. "You'll have to trust me. I think it would be a good idea if he woke up somewhere far, far away from here."

The teen absently nodded and grabbed the body. "Whatever you heard, whatever you saw..."

"I was not here." The blond cut him off with a wave of the left hand. He took the box from his cousin, noticed that it was empty, and with a sigh walked back up the stairs.

"Me neither." Itachi mumbled, picking up the man's left hand, upset about having to drag the man without identity to nowhere somewhere.

* * *

_Konoha_

When Namikaze Minato had a determined, and at the same time understanding smile on his face, you knew that whatever came forward would be inevitable.

Kakashi never liked these moments and always preferred to go through with it. Accept everything he threw at you and live with it.

"Have a seat." The man looked up from the papers and then pulled three folders out from the shelf. He stretched his hand, offering them to his former student, who accepted them with a suspicious glint in his visible, narrowed eye.

"I was told that you have an important... mission for me. But it must be more than that. You ask me to sit before briefing, Hokage-sama, and you hand me not one, but _three_ folders." The jounin spoke quietly but clearly.

A wide, toothy grin later, Minato replied. "You're doomed, Kakashi."

Already grey haired, Kakashi opened the documents, first, second, and the third.

"...I'm doomed."

P.S.

Somewhere.

A pale skinned man opened his eyes and looked around. Noticed that he was lying on the ground, in pain that shot from his left arm.

"Where am I...?" He looked around again. "...Who am I...?"

End of chapter 11

**A. N. **I hope that both Itachi and Naruto/Shirushi are a bit childish as they're supposed to be in their age (check previous chapter for ages) and in character.


	12. Mother

_Inspiration source: **'Heartbeat'** by David Sylvian_

* * *

Edited by Floating On A Thought

"Speech"

_Emphasis on the word or flashback_

Chapter 12: Mother

_Flashback_

"_Why are we not taking a body? Our business is about money, kid!" Kisame grimaced with a glance at the battle scene. Both the corpse and the sword were well recognizable._

"_That fight was not about money. It was about revenge. Besides, that guy would want to bury him, organize some sort of funeral and I _let_ that happen."_

* * *

_Wave Country_

There were persistent knocks on the wooden door. The inhabitant of the house opened it just a bit to see who was visiting and loudly forcing their way through.

Behind the door were two faces. One, young, smooth skinned, green eyed with an arrogant smirk that was supposed to intimidate, belonged to a dark haired, scantily clothed girl. Another, stern and comically disappointed, brown almost black eyed with a visible pout, belonged to a brown haired man, who was obviously a shinobi. The headbands with Leaf symbol confirmed their ninja status and put the owner of the house on guard.

"Good afternoon, old man. We've got some questions." The girl spoke in a sweet voice but the glint in her orbs was mind opening.

The male ninja sighed exasperatedly and grabbed the girl's shoulder. He pulled her back beside him. "Anko, that's not the way you do it. You're scaring the poor... old man and we haven't introduced ourselves yet."

In response, the girl closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "It's not the way you do it, not the way you walk, not the way you dress and everything else my ass! Back off Tenzo or I swear I'll bite your _head _off!"

The male, now known as Tenzo, got a twitch on his left brow which seemed to be the usual occurrence.

"Arrogant tempered brat!" The man barked.

"Ehem, if you wouldn't mind I'd like to proceed with questions and wish you a good day, folks." The poor old man informed them hoping that their talk would be short.

The duo looked at the grey haired, bearded, glasses wearing, old man that opened the door and blushed at their unprofessional behaviour. Inwardly, Tenzo cursed the effect the young kunoichi had on him. Her character, habits and reactions turned his world upside down since the moment he was assigned to be her instructor. That thought process though, was for another day.

"I apologize for bothering you like this, uh..."

"Tazuna." The old man offered his name with a bit of disdain.

"..Tazuna-san." Tenzo continued. "You see, we investigate the events that occurred in this area some month ago. Particularly, we are looking for a youth that accompanied a swordsman Momochi Zabuza in his travels; as far as we know their last location was here." He showed the picture of the Demon of Mist, in case the man did not recognize the name.

The old man's eyes widened but then at the end of the speech quickly narrowed in suspicion. He tilted his head before replying in low tones. "Why do you need him?"

The pair exchanged a glance. After slight pause where Tazuna kept looking between them, Anko elbowed her instructor impatiently, knowing that he would munch over his next response for all eternity.

Tenzo coughed covering his mouth with a loose fist, taken off guard. "Well, we have a reason to believe that the person that killed his sensei is somehow involved with a murder case from Fire Country. We will ask a few questions to gather information, that's all."

The old man hummed and seemed to search for something in ninja's eyes. Then, when he found it, he nodded with a soft sigh. "The kid found a job as a healer's assistant. He decided to stay in our town for the time being. You may try to ask him questions but I don't know if he'd answer."

The pair nodded.

"Will you tell us where we can find him?"

* * *

"He said this place is fixed now? This town is a shithole." The girl commented, looking around, trying to find what reconstructions the old man was speaking of when he described the town.

People stared at them and turned around to continue doing so. That grated on the kunoichi's nerves. "The hell are they staring at?"

Tenzo rolled his eyes and replied in a monotone. "You sure you couldn't find a shorter skirt in stores of Konoha?" He referred to her attire, completely inappropriate for a ninja. High heeled sandals, very short black skirt (he hoped she had the decency to wear panties), a black bra and mesh shirt over it and a short leather jacket. Black too. That made an alluring, repulsive and overall vulgar picture.

Anko blinked. "Yeah. Why?" She glanced at him confused. Sincerely.

The man sweat dropped'. "Never mind."

She glared at him darkly, suspecting that there was something she's done wrong in his eyes and released a bit of killing intent. He hastily raised his hands up in a placating manner.

"Really, it's nothing... Oh, look! We're almost there!" Tenzo distracted her pointing at the house with a signboard 'Medicinal herbs' that was on the other side of the street. She quickly forgot every single word they exchanged, important or meaningless, and marched there not noticing him straining a smile. After all, even if it was quite useful to make her forget about things by simply occupying her attention with something else, she just as quickly forgot about orders and pointers he made. Unfortunately, that meant that Mitarashi had a long way to go before she became a true operative.

The snow that covered this country awhile ago had melted, leaving behind the fresh air that now smelled of spring. Greenery was slowly revealing itself while basking in the warmth of the sun that added tranquillity to this present day that promised a lot while it lasted.

Anko though, noticed none of it, as her one track mind focused on the task and nothing else. It wasn't a bad trait, but in many missions, reconnaissance, spying and basically stealth oriented, it was seen as a flaw. Details meant death or survival, after all.

Tenzo shook his head and followed his subordinate as she entered the building.

The smell of herbs immediately assaulted his senses and he deeply inhaled. From the corner of his eye he glanced at Anko's reaction to the place, white and blue, clean, small; filled with unorthodox healing stuff.

The girl in question rubbed her nose and sported a grimace. "What is this stinking stuff?"

The man sighed heavily.

"This is the smell of healing herbs and mixtures, kunoichi-san." Said a voice from behind them. The pair turned around to see a girl with short, dark brown hair where two longer bangs framed the face, in a white and blue kimono and geta.

Analyzing the sudden appearance of that person, Tenzo quickly assumed that it was someone trained in stealth and chakra suppression; therefore, it could be the... boy they were looking for. Or was it a girl?

"Well, I don't like it." Anko answered, bluntly. The... _person_ just tilted their head.

"I do." Tenzo spoke up to break the building pressure and grinned broadly, to lighten up the present mood. "You must be Haku-san."

The person frowned and tensed, preparing for any sort of attack. "I am. Who are you?"

Still with a grin firmly placed on his face, Tenzo grabbed his underling and placed his arm around her shoulders. "We are Leaf ninja, I am Tenzo, and this is Anko. We did not come to fight, just to chat for a bit."

Anko grabbed her superior's offending arm and pushed it away with a twitch of her temple. "Your attitude is going to make her all suspicious, dumbass! Only bandits say they 'came to chat' before they beat the shit out of you."

The man crossed his arms and looked away. "I just try to be friendly. At least an insult is not the first word that comes out of my mouth when I meet a new someone."

The kunoichi huffed.

Quiet giggles alerted them to the presence of the third party and Tenzo felt like palming his face for getting into an argument with Anko _again._

"This is so embarrassing." He mumbled, pitying the person that would have to work with the girl after her time of probation period passed.

Haku pushed the pair of long bangs the framed his face aside and spoke with a still present giggle that escaped him. "Actually, I am a boy." That was directed to Anko, mostly, but just to be sure, the teen glanced at Tenzo meaningfully too.

"No way! You're too pretty! Prettier than me! You can't be a boy, because what does that make me?" Mitarashi expressed her fears clearly and loudly, pointing a finger at Haku first, and then at herself. Which after, in the tense pause, Tenzo cleared his ear with his little finger.

"That makes you way uglier than Haku-san." He informed her casually, knowing that this simple fact would crush her.

Anko stiffly turned to look at him, and then at the kid they were looking for. The teen looked down at her with a sad smile and a bit of pity.

She hated pity.

"Whatever. I think I can live with that. At least, I have assets." She emphasised her point by grabbing her cups.

Tenzo coughed. "Moving on, we would like to ask you a few things and hope you don't mind lending information that could be invaluable."

Darting her eyes between them, Anko finally let go of her breasts and shifted in place excitedly. Tenzo knew that she itched to pummel something but could not do so without his permission because that would mean the end of her career as a ninja.

"It depends." The teen answered stoically, turning from the giggling girl into the seemingly older and serious person. "I will not disclose information I deem not safe or relevant for you to know."

"Fair enough; no force, no juicy secrets." Anko shrugged and grinned at managing to be the cause of another twitching temple of her superior.

"Be quiet." He hissed through gritted teeth.

Haku smiled at their display of familiarity and invited them to the sitting room, where the Leaf pair settled on the sofa and Haku chose a straw chair in front of them. The room was relatively small, clean, and light in its colours.

"Would you like some tea?" The teen asked politely, ignoring the pair's following reaction, the widening of eyes, the drops of sweat on their faces and twitches of limbs.

Tenzo scratched his cheek sheepishly. "You _do_ realize we will decline? Without a doubt you specialize in poisoning and opportunity to get rid of us while getting all friendly is just too good to pass up."

"I was just being polite; I knew you'd say no for obvious reasons." The teen replied just as sheepishly.

They laughed for a minute to lighten up the atmosphere. Anko glared between them, not really in the mood for preludes. She never liked reading between the lines and playing with words. It went against her active, aggressive and reflexive nature.

"What is this information you need from me, Tenzo-san?"

The expressions of all three with this became serious again, and Tenzo prepared himself to limit the amount of things he could say. Haku observed him calmly and patiently, letting the man sort out his thoughts. The standard jounin uniform and general behaviour showed that his rank was higher than the woman's. He was also more experienced. At the same time, Haku took notice of unusual way in which his metal plate with a symbol was displayed. The standard headband was replaced with a helm like garment. But that was not the most noticeable.

Large, dark brown eyes that seemed to look straight into your soul were unnerving. Normal people did not have features as disturbing as that.

"I think I should start from saying that Momochi Zabuza and his history, your relations to him and alike is not our concern. We will not bother you by asking what your mentor's plans were, what he taught you and other things that may interest other villages." The man started, receiving a frown from the teen.

"We are gathering information about the person that attacked and killed him." He continued, watching for any reaction that might've appeared on Haku's face or in his posture. At the end of the sentence, there was sadness, surrender and wonder.

That was a curious combination.

"I see." His eyes fell on the ground. "What do you want to know?" He asked softly and quietly.

"Whatever you are willing to tell us." Tenzo replied just as softly, suspecting that the teen had to relive the hardest moments of his memories.

Anko had the urge to start singing, just to break the sappy moment. She was surprised her instructor had that much patience. What was she doing on this mission again? Right, a probation period filled with all kinds of assignments that did not necessarily entail combat situations...

"He is young, younger than me. That was the first thing that baffled and puzzled me. He never said what his name was, and did not give a valid reason for attacking Zabuza-sama."

The Leaf pair tried to ignore the first confirmation of their suspicions concerning the height of the killer. It wasn't nice to know that someone trained the child since it was able to walk. The thought of it going on par with the swordsman gave a foreboding feeling.

"What did he look like?" Tenzo inquired, hoping that the killer did not wear a mask or any other thing that concealed his features.

"Short height, long blond hair, purple eyes that looked like a doujutsu; and a cloak with a hood, black in colour with a single red cloud."

"Red cloud?" The jounin repeated, blinking and then staring somewhere ahead, clearly remembering something. Anko, who at this point was making notes in a notepad she took from her pocket, stopped writing and looked at him with a raised brow.

"Zabuza-sama always said to never engage shinobi that wore black cloaks with red clouds in battle. You'll be interested to know that there were two more ninja that confronted him then and they watched the fight from the sidelines."

"Wait, so the boy did _not_ attack you all by himself?" Anko burst out, indignant about first assumptions.

Haku turned his stone face to her and almost pinned her with a cold stare. At that moment she regretted that her attitude did not suit these sorts of interrogations. Why couldn't they strap the pretty boy to a chair and tower over him in intimidating manner, forcing all answers out while letting blood flow on the floor...?

"He did. They just stood and watched."

After that statement, Anko shrank a bit back into the sofa and tried to stay quiet.

"Did you know or recognize them?" Tenzo's voice became grave.

Haku narrowed his eyes at him, understanding that the man knew something that was extremely important. "I looked through the bingo book and found their names; Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi."

At the last name Anko gasped and moved her lips to comment somehow, but stopped at once when Tenzo put his hand on her shoulder.

"Both of them are S-ranked, missing shinobi. It looks like they belong to a larger group." The jounin said, clearly worried. "They did not interfere?"

Haku shook his head.

Hearing that, the man hummed thoughtfully. There was silence for a minute, and Anko started fidgeting because she needed some action. She knew that males in the room needed time to process information, but she did not care. What else was to process? She wanted juicy details... Just for that she elbowed her instructor to bring him back on earth.

He simply grumbled and continued with his musings. He did not lose contact with reality and could jump into the fight at any given moment, but he needed to focus on facts, facts that were forming a bigger picture than he expected.

Haku thought if he should stop here and bid the pair goodbye. There was nothing he would gain by giving them all information or keeping it to himself. It did not matter, that boy would come for his life one day sooner or later anyway. He didn't even feel like leaving this place and travelling, or achieving some dreams. Living became meaningless. But he could complicate the boy's life, couldn't he?

"You may want to know about abilities the boy displayed." The girly teen spoke, drawing attention of the pair.

"Certainly." Anko muttered, half jokingly, half serious. She already suspected that this kid had to be some sort of genius on the level of Hatake Kakashi, Namikaze Minato or Uchiha Itachi. If he wasn't, then there was no way he could defeat the Demon of Mist and his student.

"Most noticeable and at the same time strange skill he possessed, was ability to move through objects, or _let_ objects go through him..."

* * *

_Ame_

There were many things that did not add up together.

For example, how come Shirushi knew about being a jinchuuriki himself, when Madara did not seem to have an idea? It brought a question about when, where and how the man found the boy. Because if he took or kidnapped him from Konoha, then he did that intentionally, and obviously, knew who the boy was. But the boy had a different name, a change in looks that had unknown origins, attitude that in many ways resembled his 'father's' and all of that was a _blanket_ over the truth. You would never find it unless you tried and started uncovering it first.

Itachi watched the backs of the trio that walked away from the base. Sasori was in his customary Hiruko form, moving slowly but steadily. By his side was the boy, who pulled his hood up to cover the bright, blonde hair. And some distance ahead of them, jumping or dancing in excitement, was... Tobi.

_...Mindboggling. _

There was no other comment that could fit in here.

Itachi would have accompanied Sasori on this trip if the Akatsuki Leader had not changed his mind about it several days ago. Now not only was the man ordered to go with Tobi, but they took Shirushi with them too. Madara must have decided that he was needed in this case more, and it was obvious that he favoured and trusted the puppeteer in many ways. The same could not be said about Itachi or Kakuzu, who surprisingly, volunteered to take the blond with him too.

Letting the boy go on trips and missions was risky, because if there was a stressful situation, or danger, Shirushi could unwillingly reveal his status as a demon vessel. It was just a matter of time before he tapped into the pool of endless chakra that was said to circulate in vessel's system. But at the present moment, there was nothing Itachi could do about it. He wasn't even strong enough to stop Madara if the man found out the truth and decided to extract the Kyuubi. That predicament irked him, and the possible consequences terrified...

* * *

_Sometime later, Iwa_

When they left for the trip, Sasori felt as if Uchiha Itachi had followed them with his eyes. Probably wondering what evil he planned to do with all the information he was in possession of. But he, Sasori, wasn't that wicked. He did not care if all jinchuuriki were gathered or not, if Akatsuki fell apart tomorrow, or if the blond was the son of Namikaze Minato or Salamander Hanzo. At all.

He wasn't in a hurry.

There was lots of time to study, to observe, to learn.

And it was such a great feeling to have knowledge everyone was after, and keep it all to yourself.

Shirushi jumped from one earth spike to another, stomping on them to check if he made them hard enough to injure. Sasori showed that simple jutsu to keep the boy occupied while they travelled, and it looked like he grasped the concept of earth techniques fairly quickly. Now that they entered the territory of Rock Country, the blond would have plenty of space for that training.

Vast land with scarce greenery welcomed them this morning quietly and calmly. There was no shinobi squad to catch them trespassing, or random traveller to see them, so it was not a surprise they let this get into their heads and created lots of noise.

"It's so lovely that we get a new member to our lovely group! Ah, the more the merrier! Akatsuki is such a large family!"

The orange disaster was not a sight for normal people.

Where did they get this person? Sasori did not remember the day Tobi was accepted by Leader. He just appeared out of nowhere as an Akatsuki member. Just why would Pain hire that clown? And where did that clown get the Sharingan? He either was another Uchiha (and they say that clan was wiped off the face of the earth, right...) or that eye used to be in the socket of one.

Whatever. It did not matter for now, if that character worked with them, he could ignore him and try to avoid all hostile and friendly confrontations. On the other hand, those confrontations could be a good excuse to get rid of the far too eccentric shinobi.

"Oh, why am I not getting a partner like Sasori-san? Sometimes I feel so lonely..." The disaster whined, gesticulating like he played a drama of the century.

A large fist made of earth rose from the ground and punched the mask wearing man who did not react fast enough to dodge it. "Ow!"

Tobi rubbed his chest, where he felt most of the hit. "That wasn't necessary, Shiru-chan. Why would you attack your nice and sweet friend Tobi?"

"Because you're too nice and too sweet, dear friend Tobi." The blond replied sarcastically. He clearly wanted to say something else but held it back. The puppeteer did not visibly react to either of them but was inwardly satisfied with both smart use of elemental jutsu and surviving abilities of the annoying pair. It meant that at least on some level, he could rely on them if there was no other choice...

"I have disappointed! Tobi has disappointed, bad Tobi, bad!"

...Or maybe not.

* * *

_Early Morning, Konoha_

Kakashi thought that if he was lucky, the team of genin would never pass his test. After all, the three were mental, weak and generally did not look like teamwork could exist there.

Seriously, what could a green clad (a suit was a present from Guy), 'tenketsu-less' kid do with tiny fists? How a girl that played with weapons could help? And really, Neji wasn't a type to work with anyone. The eccentric duo would annoy him. No possible teamwork with those three. He will give them the good old bells' test and be free for another whole year. Yes, and they will _pleasantly_ hate him for the rest of eternity once they hear that their trio goes back to the academy.

What was sensei thinking, going against everyone's wishes? The council wanted Rock Lee to be placed under Might Guy, along with Tenten... huh, no surname? And here the Yondaime 'suggested' that the team went to him. What for? To make sure Lee became part of his life to remind him of Guy, and little kunoichi treated him like a dummy for throwing knives? Hyuuga Neji was the favourite boy of the Leaf leader and not passing him was asking for trouble. But what was sensei expecting? That a little threat in a form of the stoic white eyed Hyuuga would ensure team nine comes to life? They'd have to prove they were worth his time first. And good luck with that. Nothing beats Icha Icha.

He sat on the roof of the academy building with folders placed by his side. All of them were opened to compare information gathered by academy instructors with Kakashi's own observations.

It was early morning and the class finally had a taijutsu lesson _outside_, on the training ground designed for students.

The spring was quickly turning into warm summer, which everyone was thankful for. Snow was rare in Fire Country and though the sight was beautiful and made young generation happy, adults knew that it was advantage for foreign shinobi, because Konoha was not prepared for that weather. Thankfully, the landscape was back in its usual form.

Ten and eleven year olds faced each other in one on one battle under the watchful eye of Umino Iruka, a chuunin that was said to be the most talented teacher in the last decade. For his teaching methods, he was respected by all Konoha ninja population, even the Yondaime Hokage. It started when he created a new program for the academy first years that entailed weekly tests and individual reading material the students took home. Lessons that forced students to form groups and work together for random assignments was an innovation that was met with loud cheers. Since then the level of basic education rose to the point where children graduated at the age of eleven.

This also changed team arrangements. Instructors, potential jounin teachers, the council and the Hokage of course, knew about the placements beforehand. That was why Kakashi received the files on his potential genin pupils even before they passed their exams. Thanks to this, he knew what he would have to deal with and if he decided that arrangement was incorrect, he had time to convince others of it before it became permanent.

But why would he, if he wanted to fail this team?

Ah, maybe because it was _really_ asking for trouble...

Why couldn't he get the brooding Uchiha and a pair of his fan girls to amuse himself on daily basis? No, only _he_ would get the bunch of hardworking brats that wanted to be true ninja.

And then he would actually have to teach them something, unless he wanted to be demoted to genin.

The green wearing boy walked into the circle to face the tall and fat (was that an Akimichi?) classmate. Kakashi reached for an appropriate file and read it before the fight started. The kid was talented and well trained in taijutsu, had no talent whatsoever in genjutsu, but had large reserves for ninjutsu. He did not perform nin or gen jutsus in the academy because of his handicap but the file said that he could when he used an unnamed object that was still in the test stage. That testing and training was supervised by the Hokage and Tsunade of the Sannin themselves.

The fight started...

And ended.

Kakashi blinked. What?

Lee jumped with a fist high in the air and the grin on his face. _That_ was a celebrating pose.

Did he just put down that larger and visibly stronger boy (uh, was that really an Akimichi? Now he wasn't so sure) with one punch? Impressive. Guy would be proud.

But that meant trouble. Even if his strength was nothing in comparison to a jounin, at the time of the test Kakashi would have to limit his power in all aspects, which could lead to this kid becoming seriously dangerous.

He took the pencil and added his own note to the file. _Be careful around that one. If looking like Mini Guy has anything to do with being as skilled as that man, Rock Lee is surely a force to be reckoned with. _

The next was the fight between tail-haired Tenten and a member of the Aburame clan. At first they observed each other with a stare, and then engaged in a standard match. The girl was precise but slow. She really tried hard but had no physical strength and speed to match the boy's. Her file said that she was gifted when it came to weapons. Sharp objects were her forte. No one was better at throwing and attacking with anything that had a pointed edge. That wasn't a standard academy skill though. She ranged somewhere in the middle of the class, not too smart, not too strong, but she definitely tried hard.

She lost with a cry when Aburame was a second away from twisting her wrist.

Two fights later it was Neji's turn. Predictably, he almost humiliated his opponent with the use of his clan's combat techniques. The most intriguing was his stone face. A famous mask of Hyuuga family adorned the boy's features while he did not even try to win. The fight was quick and one sided. His opponent wasn't that skilled either, so there wasn't much Neji had to do.

His files were somewhat strange. Not as interesting as Lee's, but the mention of several ninjutsu in his arsenal hinted that he had knowledge of more than that. Official training in tactics, politics and minor jutsus given by Genma and rare but personal training from the Hokage gave a promising picture of young shinobi. Though, how much he knew and how skilled he was, the file did not say.

Standing in the crowd of students watching the fight, Lee conversed with Tenten, which confirmed Hatake's suspicions about their friendship and building up teamwork. But thanks to Neji their team would not work out, he was too full of himself.

The match ended with Neji standing over his opponent, who was panting, lying on the ground exhausted. After a moment the pale eyed boy stepped closer and offered his classmate a hand. On his face was a small smile.

This Hyuuga _wasn't_ as arrogant as the jounin _hoped_ he would be.

This time around Kakashi would have to actually put some effort into failing a team, it seemed.

* * *

_Same day, Konoha_

Minato ran into the estate without closing the gates or the doors he walked through on his way. He quickly entered the empty dining room and walked to the inconspicuous decorative vase. It was on the side table under the portrait of Kushina's older relative, Uzumaki Mito, who had been like a grandmother to her. It always looked like she gazed down on the guests with kindness. He and Kushina chose that picture together. But at the moment, the vase his wife found on some market in Tanzaku Gai was more important.

It was made of wood, with several ornaments in gold; not really expensive, it was just nice and suited the room that was white and had wooden furniture in the same light brown colour.

He picked it up and staring at it questioningly walked to the empty table. He pulled one of eight chairs and absently settled down in it.

His hand gently stroked the surface of the vase and Minato looked inside to confirm that it was empty. Then, he let his hand reach inside and tap three points with a little bit of chakra. The seals that were hidden inside were invisible and only the creator knew how to use them and in which order. Kushina shared that with him in case she forgot... But obviously, she lied. She told him how to open the seals in case she was not there to do it herself.

With a quiet 'pop', inside the vase appeared a scroll.

If anyone ever managed to get inside the estate to rob it, they would search through the master bedroom, living room, library, or his little office. And even if they decided to check the dining room, the portrait would grab most of their attention. A simple pretty vase would be ignored, and that was what Kushina wanted. Why, though? What was special about the scroll she hid in here?

He took it in his hands and put the vase aside.

The paper was quite old; she said this passed through generations in her family. The handles of rolls were made of bronze, and their ornaments asked for attention. A spiral here and there revealed which clan the scroll belonged to.

He unrolled it and placed on the table.

This morning he talked with Tsunade, about trivial things, they even gossiped a bit. Somehow they touched the topic of family trees and she said that distantly, she and Kushina were related; Senju and Uzumaki always had close ties. He asked if there were more relatives to Uzumaki or Senju family, except for her and Jiraiya, and she admitted that she didn't know.

He couldn't check if there were Senju descendants around, but some Uzumaki names were in reach.

On the scroll paper was a list of names, all of them with the Uzu or Uzumaki surname. The last was Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto. He clearly remembered the day she wrote it in here.

_Hearing Kushina's voice speaking he walked up the stairs and to their bedroom._

"_I'll tell you a story about the traveller that changed the world. A fairy tale you'll hear quite often from your mom, Naru-chan." _

_Pausing in the corridor, he quietly stepped closer and stopped by the door frame. She was lovingly caressing her large stomach._

"_Once upon a time, really long ago, when people and animal clans lived in one realm and chakra was known to be the energy of every little visible and invisible, known and unknown thing, there was a man that wanted to possess the greatest power there was, the power of knowledge. He travelled around the world and if there was something he wanted to learn, people taught him for free or for a price. With years as he grew in power and was becoming smarter and wiser, he was becoming more recognized. People gave him many names but his true one did not reach our times._

_One day, he met the clan that had power he craved for. They had knowledge of symbols, and rumours said they had knowledge of life and death. When he approached them and offered the secrets from around the world in exchange for theirs, the clan agreed to share under one condition. If he knew of their secrets and ways, he had to follow their example and live like they lived, follow the rules they followed and share their power like they shared._

_The man accepted and learned of their history; the start of their growth in power, the story of the spirits they gathered the favour from; and of how they became the first energy users that created the summoning ritual. _

_He learnt the art of symbols, the workings of both the fragile and the strong relations between humans, animal clans and few spirits that graced those lands with their presence. He even married into the clan, which after it was obvious that he will never travel far again and will not seek other clans to learn more. But his cravings grew and being a member of the powerful family was not enough, all knowledge they gave him was not enough either, and despite all ties and promises, he betrayed them, breaking one of the rules, by creating a new summoning ritual, that would call the most powerful being into their realm. _

_And he summoned the spirit, that was not the God nor the animal, that was not from this world nor from heaven, that was a demon, a beast, from the deepest levels of hell. And before the man could fathom what he's done, the beast consumed him and used him to bring destruction, misery and changes._

_Only later he was freed from the demon's control, when the elder of the clan put the necklace on him. A blue stone was on it, that brought peace. A stone created from self sacrifice of clan members, that put their energy in there that defied the evil. _

_Sane and in control of his body again, in apology the man gathered the ruins of villages, cities and lands he destroyed and formed a globe, which he brought beyond the skies. Cursed by survivors, he left, abandoning the family he had. _

_Again he travelled the world, this time not to learn, but to teach. And in the new, spirits and animal clans free world, he became a legend. He awakened in others a desire to learn, to fight and to dominate, and then this human world, turned into the battlefield._

_On his deathbed he ripped the beast apart, leaving it in nine pieces, and asked his sons to keep it locked, never used, never touched, never freed."_

_Minato was leaning on the wall in the corridor, standing by the door. His ear caught every word and he quickly assumed that this tale held some truths. Where she knew it from though, was obvious. She was descendant of that clan, and that man, it had to be the Rikudou character, but he did not exist, right?_

"_Not really a happy ending, but it's still a tale, isn't it?" Kushina said, speaking to her stomach. Then Minato__heard the rustling of paper and peeped into the room. She opened some scroll and was writing with a bleeding thumb. He was instantly on guard and entered the room with a confused expression._

"_What are you doing, honey?" He asked stepping closer. She looked up surprised, not knowing he was by the door for quite some time. He knew her sensing abilities were limited._

_With a large blinding smile she sheepishly scratched her cheek and replied. "Ah, you see, it's a tradition of sorts, to write the name of the next Uzumaki in this scroll. See," She turned the paper so he had a good view of it. "...it's like a family tree."_

_He saw that indeed, it was a list of family names. "Oh, I didn't see that kind of thing before."_

_She giggled. "That's because we didn't know the name of our baby yet. Now that we know that Naru-chan is the boy, and has a full name, it was time to add him to this special family tree."_

_He nodded and she rolled it up. "Why did you write it in blood, though?" Minato asked and she momentarily faltered. He noticed but kept smiling, hoping that her reply would be sincere._

"_It's just a tradition, darling."_

_He agreed and reminded her that it was time to go to bed. Instead of worrying her with questions, Minato pretended to forget about it and it eased her mind._

He forgot about that little detail but now it appeared Kushina lied about some things. In this scroll was her name, the name of their son, the name of her grandmother figure and that woman's father, and further back in the past, the names of members that passed away; but suddenly he _realised,_ that he could not see the names of other Uzumaki that were part of the clan at that same time. Why no one wrote here the names of Kushina's parents? Wasn't it strange? Like this scroll singled these names out.

The conclusion he came to at that moment?

This wasn't a family tree.

And other time when she lied about the family technique. Sarutobi found a scroll that belonged to Uzumaki Mito, somewhere among the papers and scrolls that belonged to the Senju clan, and asked her about the jutsu that summoned Shinigami himself. She denied the usefulness of the technique, claiming that using it was a suicide. But he used it, and he was still alive.

_As disaster in the form of the fox wreaked havoc beyond the gates of Konoha, Minato rushed into the hospital with a million thoughts occupying his mind. Some part of him hated his own helplessness because he could think of only one thing he could do to protect his village, and if it meant self sacrifice then he was ready to do it. Some part of him wanted to gather his wife in his arms regardless of her state and run as far away as was possible to protect their future and ignore the duty that he put on his shoulders. And then just among the chaos in his head was a thought that whatever he chose to do he would lose one way or another. _

_He grabbed the first medic that appeared in sight. "Is she still alive?" He asked quite loudly, stressed to the point where he did not care to conceal it. He knew that the seal was broken when she went into labour. The demon seemingly disappeared from her body in her moment of weakness and somehow appeared not too far away from Konoha. Logically, it was summoned there, by someone who knew the situation Kushina was in. And after that, by some miracle, she continued to fight on the hospital bed, proclaiming that she planned to stay alive for as long as it took to give birth to their child. _

"_Y-yes, sir."_

_He ignored the scared and stuttering man and ran to the room he left her in. There, she was on the bed, tangled in blood stained white sheets, holding the crying baby to her chest. Her hair was in disarray, skin sweaty, movements strained, but her voice was as loud as always, and she was screaming in anger, hysteria and fear at the pair of nurses that faced her wrath._

"_I don't care about your orders! I want my child to be fucking safe!" She screamed and the pair backed away._

"_Kushina..." He started stepping closer._

"_Minato God dammit order someone to take Naruto away from this place, away from danger!" She shouted, and he flinched. She was way too pale, shaken, and he couldn't believe she still had so much strength._

_Somewhat hesitantly, he reached her and leaned with one knee on the bed. "The Kyuubi is somehow heading here, if I... don't stop it, Konoha shall be destroyed."_

_She saw that he was just as shaken, panting and strained as she was. But then his words registered in her mind. She narrowed her eyes. "And just how do you plan to stop it, Minato?"_

"_You know there is only one sure way to do it..."_

_She cut him off. "You've got to be kidding me, you can't seal it! It's too powerful! What, you'll draw a seal on its stomach and ask it politely to stay still?" The baby started crying more loudly._

"_Hokage-sama, sir, the beast has passed the gates!" Some officer barked from the doorframe. After seeing the monster with his own eyes and running here all the way, he was tired, scared and lost, but at the same time, ignored by majority of the room. _

"_You know me, Kushina-chan, of course I will use unreasonable amounts of force." He answered her with a nervous smile, rubbing the back of his head. _

_His shy and easy behaviour did not fool her. The red haired woman dangerously narrowed her gaze. The ignored officer realised that he stumbled upon the scene uninvited and gulped, before stepping back out the door. _

_Her breathing became heavier. "I assume you plan to... take our child with you... on the battlefield." Her hands pressed Naruto closer to her chest. As she saw him bit his lower lip in silent answer, her expression turned fierce. "What made you think... I will let my son go... through the same thing I had to?"_

_For some time he was silent, just looking at her tired, _exhausted_ appearance. She did not deserve this. She should have had a right to spend every last moment of her life with their son, with him, in happiness and sadness, not in this chaos and grief. And he was the one who had to hurt her. _Was_ hurting her... _

"_We don't have a choice." He replied resolutely and slowly his hands reached for the baby that was making disturbed noises. _

"_No! Get your hands away from him!" She leaned to the edge of the bed to make a distance between them._

"_Kushina be reasonable!" Suddenly they heard a roar from outside, unmistakably coming from the demon that entered the village. "We don't have time!" _

_Nurses that previously stood by the wall in hopes to protect themselves from attention and the wrath of the dying woman shrieked in fear. _

_For a moment Minato thought that he could risk and put the seal on another child, but that thought left him quickly, because he had a son that being born that day, was the best option and opportunity, not that it made the decision any easier... But sealing the demon was the only technique that had the highest percentage of being completed successfully. _

"_You know I care about this village." The red head bit out and sighed. He noted that her trembling intensified. "Just how do you plan... to do it?" Her fingers restlessly combed through the child's golden hair._

_Minato wanted to lie so much. _

_Never in his life before did he want to tell a lie so much that he searched for it. Where was Kakashi with his stupid and sometimes wise statements that turned your world upside down but explained it somehow? That stupid idea about his student came in a wrong moment and in the wrong place but Minato wanted to laugh at it anyway. _

_His wife did not look like she shared his moment of funny comments that did not leave your mouth once they come._

_That aside, his mind did not come up with _any _lie, and honestly, it was disgusting to deny her the truth._

"_All force and speed is not enough to stop the Kyuubi. Even I am not that stupid to believe that. I cannot perform the sealing." He admitted, his expression serious and grave. "I am not a God." He added, and _'but I can summon one' _left unvoiced. _

_She was shocked, he knew that._

_She would be beyond furious, he knew that._

_It was one thing to seal the demon in your child, but it was another to perform the sealing and leave that child completely alone. After all, no matter how hard Kushina tried to hide it, she was on the brink. Her eyelids were dropping, her skin was too pale and he felt her energy gradually leave her. That was not the best moment to inform her about his planned suicide. He knew that._

_But how could he lie to her?_

_How could he deny his village salvage?_

"_You fool!"_

_Her reaction was half expected. _

_He grit his teeth in resolve and grabbed the baby. _

_At that same moment, tears started leaking from both of their eyes. Hers from anger and stress, his from guilt and grief._

_And they fought. Fought over the infant because at that moment he put the wellbeing of Konoha over his own and his family, and Kushina put the wellbeing of her son over the rest of the world._

"_You fool! *Sob*, that jutsu is not what you think it is!" She screamed as he wrenched Naruto out of her arms. "You can't use it!"_

_He made a heavy step back, holding his son for the first time. He was so small and seemed fragile, but he definitely had his mother's vocal cords. _

_Blinking through tears, the blond man rose to full height._

_She screamed so painfully that he felt something break inside of him. Her hands gripped the sheets so tightly that her fingers turned white._

"_Shina-chan..." His whisper went unheard by her. But he could still hear the strained 'fool' from her. _

_At that moment he wanted to comfort her, make her feel better. But their argument would be the same, and whatever comfort he offered would be for nothing._

"_Hokage-sama." The officer from earlier mumbled, reminding Minato that the demon did not wait for him to say goodbyes. _

"_I love you, Kushina." Was all he managed to say as he left the room, still hearing her anguish filled cries reverberating off the walls of the hospital. _

_He did not ask for forgiveness, because this time, he knew that he did not deserve it. _

She had warned him after all.

He truly did not know what he was doing, and it resulted in this.

It's been years but looking through these memories he still felt like it was yesterday. And unexplained details, secrets and puzzles continued to emerge through the surface of the past.

But if he found the answers, where would it lead him?

* * *

_Rock Country_

"Akatsuki, you say?" The blond shinobi asked, still standing quite some distance away from his visitors, with the main entrance strategically behind him. "Hell if I care. Do not disturb my enjoyment of Art!"

Two of Akatsuki representatives rolled their eyes together simultaneously, hearing in that speech the voice of Sasori, who, upon realizing that his way of expressing himself belonged to someone else at the moment, merely blinked.

"He's got spunk but he's the kind that ends up getting himself killed before you know it. Of whatever use he is, it's gonna be short." The puppeteer commented dryly.

"Don't talk about me as if I'm not here!" Their target shouted.

"But orders are orders, his abilities will serve our cause." Sasori continued as if the Iwa shinobi they confronted hadn't spoke.

"You know about my abilities? Huh, it's no fair! You know all about me, but I have no clue about who you are!" He accusingly pointed a finger at the trio.

The boy in between the adults that all this time was motionlessly observing the exchange palmed his face in exasperation.

"Oh, no worries, Deidara-san! Tobi will share with every bit of informative stuff to make you feel mo-o-o-s-t welcome in our bi-i-i-i-g family!" The mask wearing shinobi cried introducing himself and showing compassion for the newest member at the same time. He rushed with opened arms to give a hug to the new brother, while the Iwa terrorist looked on with terrified expression.

"That's not how I imagined our meeting would look like." The deep voice muttered over the noise of the pair fighting over _getting_ a hug or _not_ getting all touchy at all.

Shirushi glanced at Sasori from between the digits still covering his face. "You _imagined_ it but did not _plan_ it? Where did your intellect go?"

"I lost it on the way here under some idiot's influence."

"Figures." The blond boy turned his attention back at the pair that seemed to have found their personalities clashing.

"My hands are NOT ugly! These are tools for perfection of my ART you _idiot_!" Deidara was verbally and physically attacking his offender, kicking as the steam rose above his own head.

"No-o-o, Tobi-i-i-i-kun did not mean to upset nor insult!"

Deidara either did not hear the plea or ignored it. "I'll show you what these hands of an artist can do!"

The Iwa shinobi fisted his hands, and when he unclenched them, two forms shot out of his palms, revealing a pair of large spiders that immediately attacked orange masked yubin-nin.

Shirushi, all seriousness forgotten, examined the forms with wide, childish eyes. "They're even pretty!"

Akasuna no Sasori deeply sighed, rolled his eyes and prayed to Kami with a question _what exactly_ destroyed the boy's normal psyche. All of these actions of course, the puppeteer performed _inwardly_.

Tobi waved his arms in panic.

Spiders struck with a jump.

"Explosion is the moment of greatness for my models! Admire a true work of ART! Katsu!"

The spider forms exploded on command, taking with them the mask wearing Akatsuki member.

Remembering that they were in a closed space, namely, a shrine, Shirushi backed away from the smoke and the dust. Sasori looked like he ignored the world around him.

Deidara laughed like a madman.

The puppeteer and the boy sighed at the scene. Madmen never learn.

The smoke dispersed and the dust settled.

"That wasn't nice!" Tobi whined, examining his a bit dirtied cloak.

Shocked at seeing his opponent intact, alive and kicking, the terrorist pointed at him accusingly with largely opened eyes. "How are you still alive!"

"Eh? Was Tobi meant to die? O-o-o-h, no-o-o, Tobi disappointed again!"

_End of chapter 12_


	13. There will be nothing to feel sorry for

Chapter 13: There will be nothing to feel sorry for

Sometimes I prefer to be all alone

To dance clumsily on the edge of evil

Even to roll to the utter bottom

Sometimes I prefer that to the tenderness of your foreign hands.

I believe in impossible power

I can light the darkness if I want to

I can move you for several moments

Just understand me when I'll want to be myself again.

Surely you felt the great fear sometime before

That your best time is passing.

Helplessness brought you to the background

Waiting makes our sweetness go bitter

Excessive grating desensitizes us to a whisper.

It's so hard to find a way into the warm sleep.

The words blend into the false tone

When hypersensitivity is like a ticket one way from here.

They lied to me in hope

That I believed and will stop wishing

I need to heal from pain and fear

Where's the man who will show me how?

Who will show me how...

There will be nothing to feel sorry for

_Translation of 'Leszek Zukowski' by __**Coma**_

* * *

Edited by Floating On A Thought_  
_

"Speech"

"_Thoughts"_

"**Demonic speech"**

"_**Inner demonic speech, obviously"**_

_Flashback, emphasis on the word..._

Ages

Naruto/Shirushi- 10 years old

Madara- 90+

Minato- 35 years old

Itachi- 15 years old

Shinigami- are you serious? He's ageless

Kakashi- about 25

Gai- about 25

Neji, Lee, Tenten- 11 years old

Karin- 11

Juugo-13

Kimimaro- 13

Orochimaru- about 50 or more, but he definitely looks better than Jiraiya or Tsunade without genjutsu

* * *

"In the times of war, strength and amount of techniques were not as important as cunning, speed and reflexes. We wished to be in two places at once, and those of us who used shadow clones had advantage. We wished to survive after receiving a fatal injury, and knowledge of medical jutsus saved us." Madara spoke, staring into the distance. Green forest was in front of him, but he did not see it.

Even though the orange mask still covered his face, at this moment he was not fooling around, pretending to be Tobi. His posture and tone of the voice, reserved but graceful gestures turned him into a different person. There were no people around who expected to see the idiot, ridiculously young in behaviour and strange in all actions.

" Some of us wished to travel long distances without obstacles in a blink of an eye. Some of us wanted to live forever. Or to play by having absolute control over others." His voice was full of wonder, honesty and had a note of sadness. He seemed to speak to himself, or to the whole world in hope that wind would carry his whisper.

It looked like even Madara's true persona, outside of the Tobi shell, was overly dramatic.

"What were _your_ wishes like, Itachi?" The man asked, without turning around.

Immediately, the teen was assaulted by questions behind that simple line. All that speech had to lead to something, and there were several admittances. Did the man expect him to reveal some secrets, open his heart? And then came a realization. Madara all but said that he wished to cover distances in the blink of an eye, and he had this ability, didn't he? It was given to him by an evolved sharingan eye. He should be extremely old, and Itachi already knew that the man could wrap anyone's mind in a strong illusion, or just force someone to do his bidding.

But what that had to do with wishes?

"Our wishes are the greatest power of all. They doesn't come in flashes of light or darkness. They doesn't come in the form of elements, they almost don't have manifestation." The man answered the unasked question, breaking the silence that formed between them.

Itachi sat on the ground, leaning on the boulder that had one of the five seals protecting the entrance to the new base for Akatsuki organization. Madara stood with his back turned to him few metres away.

In this area, they were alone, and maybe _that_ prompted the man to open up or to start the new game. It was hard to tell what really was on his mind and if his words were at least half-true. You could never tell where the limits were, where lies stopped or started, or how to actually respond without fear that words would be used against you, unless of course, you were a blond boy named Shirushi.

"I had many wishes." Itachi answered. But had he, really? All he ever wanted in the past was to be a normal kid, to be free, to have less of the weight on his shoulders. And then, for all the trouble to finally end, for deaths to stop, and blood to stop spilling. But no, that's not true. Sometimes he wanted for others to die and to bleed. And sometimes wished that that blood dirtied hands other than his own.

"I wished to be right, always." That sounded about true. He wished his actions were justified, right and never wrong. After failing so many times to prevent things from happening, he was tired of being involved and helpless at the same time. "I wished I could stop time." That too. He faced ridiculous situations where he didn't know how to react and he just wanted the time to stop and let him think, think in peace and quiet; or situations where he was in such a hurry that he made mistakes in judgement, chose wrongly and acted inappropriately. "I wished I had power to destroy something without trying, or save something just as easily. There's no such thing as _easy_, though."

"You don't see it." The man replied. And then he laughed, lightly. Strange that there was no malice or insanity in that sound. "It's so obvious to me now. But I used to be young and inexperienced, like you." He laughed again. "And just as blind."

Itachi looked up. Did he mean it literally, or not? Or both? Just how can you regard the man seriously when he seems mad most of the time? Though, he probably knew that Itachi's vision became somewhat blurred.

"Wishes come true." Madara said softly and tenderly, and his voice in that moment carried a foreign tone of kindness, and familiar tone of insanity, both at the same time.

As the silence reigned between them again, Itachi analyzed his memories and step by step, soon after realized that what Madara said, at least partly, was true.

He dreamed of stopping the time itself, in the past, and today, his skill named Tsukiyomi was capable of something that was closer to it than anything before. He could _not_ stop the time, yes, but he could stretch it in the way that almost let him achieve that feat. He just never looked at it in that angle. Tsukiyomi was an illusion, a powerful genjutsu that played with the mind and soul of a victim. It was a punishment, a double edged sword, manifestation of his longing for absolute power. And why didn't he see it before? Was he focused on its genjutsu properties that much?

And then later he was so terrified and fascinated with the power of Amaterasu that he hadn't realized that it had to come from somewhere. A gaze full of hatred, directed at his enemy, could kill. Wasn't it a wish of every sharingan wielder? Itachi, it appeared, had this wish come true, and the black flames of the Sun Goddess destroyed everything he aimed them at.

And last but not least, Susanoo, with the Yata no Kagami in his left hand, and Totsuka no Tsurugi in his right, which wasn't the powerful shield he thought it was, but manifestation of his wish to protect what was important to him.

These were the jutsus he would pay the price of strength and sight for, as Madara has already mentioned. Strange that the man would know more about him than he himself. The old manipulator quickly came to conclusions about Mangekyo gifts, and might know about it far more than Itachi suspected...

* * *

_Summoning realm_

The torch lightened the walls of the dark and wide corridor in an eerie way, creating shadows that constantly moved due to currents of air that circulated in the maze of abandoned rooms and hallways.

Walking closer to images, Shirushi could barely see what they showed even after cleaning them off the dust. Similar to intricate designs of seals in the clan of foxes, the inscriptions blurred before forming into words somewhere in the boy's subconscious. And as he turned from one wall to another, the frown continued to grow on his face.

"Why do they speak of slavery?" He asked no one in particular, trying to understand the story the walls presented to him. "Don't tell me there were wars between summons."

"Why not? If there are wars between humans, then wars between animals in our realm are far from a fantasy." The voice replied from behind.

The boy turned around to see the large orange fox with green, gleaming eyes. "Touhara."

The animal grinned. "And here I thought you visited because you missed us. What's up? Got engrossed in the tale?"

Shirushi pressed his lips together and looked at the nearby wall. "It says here that a demon challenged the tailed Lords, and after defeating them, consumed them and their power. It wanted to rule over people that served those Lords but they turned against it, and betrayed their masters. _You_ did not fight this demon, did not help your masters gain freedom. _You_ betrayed your Lord."

The fox took a thinking pose by closing its eyes, sitting down and tilting the head sideways. "Ages ago that creature and its minions wanted to take over the world, and we knew it would lead to chaos and destruction, so forming an alliance with other clans, we gathered power necessary to defeat it and send it and demons it alike to a separate realm. You may see it as betrayal of our Master, but we viewed it as the only way to protect our world. Though in the end, it came back and repaid us in kind."

"It created a separate world for all of you, hasn't it, ...how?"

Touhara smiled sadly. "Let's not go into technical details, all you need to know is that demon had a power of destruction... through creation."

The blond blinked without comprehension but decided to keep the rest of questions to himself. In the meantime, growing impatient, the fox spoke.

"I don't believe the important stuff you came with is about unimportant past."

The blond snapped out of his disarranged thoughts and looked down at Touhara thoughtfully. "...If you're not aware yet, I am a vessel for the Nine Tailed Fox."

The orange fox raised its head, in pride, for some reason. The shadows created by torch in Shirushi's hand gave the summon a sharp look and an intimidating appearance. Like it was ready to fight, verbally and physically. "We knew for some time. Your smell, the feeling of your chakra gave us the clue that your power is demonic in some ways and that there's even more to it than that. Later we suspected that you might be a host of sorts and... made bets that inside of you could be Lord Kyuubi."

Shirushi had a twitch in his right eye at that statement. "Figures, instead of investigating this information you simply made bets and waited till it came on silver platter."

Touhara shrugged and the blond sighed. He turned to move outside of the underground labyrinth. "I want to try and communicate with my tenant, but have no idea if there are any repercussions or consequences. Therefore, I decided to do it here."

The summon nodded and followed the boy. "Meaning you wouldn't want any human to notice and find out... By the way, how did _you_ figure it out?"

"That's a secret." The blond answered with a grin.

"I knew you would say that..." Touhara scowled. "Anyway, I think you should speak with Touma-sama first. She will give you permission and support without a doubt, but you may want to hear an advice from her as well."

* * *

The boy bowed to the biggest fox he's ever seen. Her fur was orange, almost yellow in colour, her claws, tips of ears and the tail were white, and her eyes were green like the grass. Her enormous body covered half of the field and he had to lift his head really high up see her head. She was the daughter of the elder Tou, and mother and grandmother to many clan members. At the current time she also was the head of the family and the so called Queen of the foxes.

"Shirushi-chan, what is this important matter you came with to our realm?"

He would also have more respect for her if she behaved like one. Her singing voice, childish manners and jokes might reflect well on his own behaviour, but it in no way suited her high position.

He smiled at her. "I plan to communicate with my occupant, Lord Kyuubi, in secluded area where I will not be disturbed. I do not wish to let humans know of my predicament nor actions in case there are visible changes or Lord Kyuubi gains control over my body. Though, I may deliver a message to him, if you have one."

Touma hummed and calmly gazed down on the blond. "Why are you so sure that you're able to contact your tenant on the first try, hmm?"

He gave her a toothy grin that spoke of many promises. "It's my body, so I know it better, right?"

The Queen nodded with a grin. "I like your attitude, and wouldn't like it if Lord Kyuubi treated you inappropriately, you are our summoner, after all. That actually may be a part of the message I give. As for the rest, the side we take and the Leader we accept depends on the plans the Lord has and his position towards us. I am the current head of the clan and I plan to lead it but my power is nowhere near our Lord's and I shall fall if he challenged me."

Her admission surprised the blond, and her honesty always made up for her behaviour. Towards her, he could always do the same. "I doubt your old Lord is in any position to make demands and challenges. He was sealed successfully and for a reason."

A huge tail hit the ground several times. "You know how to lift my spirits, Shirushi-chan! Heed my little advice then, before you face him." She leaned down in conspiracy. "Lord Kyuubi loved respect and adoration, respected strong will and sharp mind, adored power and hated for his own power and mind to be challenged."

The blond grimaced and looked aside, mumbling. "Great, our personalities are so going to clash..."

"Anyway, that was in the past. Things change with time, and our Lord might've changed as well, for better or worse though..."

"I get it." The boy replied with a deep sigh.

"Good luck, then." Touma said and Shirushi walked away, steeling his resolve.

* * *

_Two weeks later, somewhere north in Narutoverse_

Shirushi thought that getting rid of Orochimaru and his memories meant that whatever concerned that sneaky man was far away in a distance and time. That whatever had to do with him would not bother masses of people for a _long_ time.

But, it appears, he was stupidly wrong.

Well, you can't accuse the guy for being stupid when he didn't know half of the things the snake's done.

That thought was especially comforting when a beetle like man or monster attacked the blond's stomach with a horn...

What kind of hybrid was it? He thought as he grabbed the monster's horn and jumped over its form. The form was somewhat wide, fat if those weren't muscles. On sides of that were arms, about four... The head was round, with a sharp mouth that resembled a snout, with a protruding horn in a place where nose should be. The legs weren't worth mentioning, as they were short, quite small in proportions and more importantly, slow.

One loud roar later one of the arms grabbed the blond's cloak.

"Hey! No tearing clothes!" Shirushi exclaimed and pushed the beetle away with lightning from the palm of his hand, then becoming creative he made a few hand seals to form a pit under the monster's feet, where it fell a moment later.

Madara stood a short distance away, observing the fight in a calculative manner. His fingers tapped his chin and lips as he weighted pros and cons of creating an army of monsters in a way Orochimaru did.

Quite angered, the beetle like man tried to escape the deep pit to get to its victim.

"No, you're not supposed to crawl out of there!" The blond shouted indignantly while waving his arms in a fitting gesture.

"_**Can't you squash this bug and be done with it?"**_ the deep voice spoke inside the blond's head. The tone was lazy, with a tint of annoyance.

"Agh!" Shirushi raised his left hand in a fist and looked not only indignant but irritated too. Since his visit to the demon Lord, Kyuubi spoke in his head on daily basis, usually making some sort of _badass_ comment. And to think that this could be avoided if he did not _wake_ the Lord with his visit...

Shirushi made several seals with his hands without symmetry and vines emerged from under the pit. Those vines caught the monster encircling his body and limbs and pulled him to the bottom, where the monster continued to shout and wriggle in his bindings. The blond clapped his hands and the pile of earth rose and buried the beetle like man under the ground. He had to concentrate hard to make sure he added some serious pressure.

"_**That's more like it."**_

"_Can't you stay quiet!"_

Madara stepped closer and examined the surface of the ground, half sure that the beetle was dead. Kyuubi reacted to his presence with a growl and Shirushi had to try his hardest to ignore it.

"So what do you think about Orochimaru's toys? His army's quite ugly, isn't it?"

The blond sneered to hide any other emotion the threatened to appear on his face. "The army is formed by soldiers, not annoyances like the ones we keep stumbling upon. Don't tell me you actually like them, dad?"

"Intrigued, would be a better word." The man smiled under his mask and moved to lead the way to the North Hideout that belonged to Orochimaru. And since it looked like its prisoners started escaping, there was a high chance the base was abandoned.

The blond followed. He didn't like the effects of the cursed seal Orochimaru seemed to put on dozens or even hundreds of people but if he voiced his concerns it would not be met with understanding. His father treated people like they were objects made of flesh and blood, and Akatsuki would rather look upon these people as if they were useless trash. But Shirushi did not like the fact that all those experiments were almost pointless, as gaining physical attributes _meant_ losing humanity and intelligence. These monsters might be trash and objects made of flesh, but deforming and cursing them pointlessly was beyond the definitions of gross, disgusting and unfair, and maybe even waste of time.

"_**It isn't dead yet."**_ The fox commented, referring to the buried monster. Looked like the many tailed Lord didn't want to see opponents left alive. That was _his_ problem though, and he'd better get used to the sight.

"_I don't care."_

* * *

Ability to discern types of chakra and distances never seemed like much, in comparison to other skills like sound manipulation, body transformations or rare bloodlines. Who would have thought that this little almost useless gift would cause troubles? Karin regretted that she stayed in the base when she was half sure Orochimaru was not coming back. If she left and was on her way to join some serious village or to find a way to simply exist with a different life story, Kimimaro wouldn't have forced her to join in his travels to search for their Master.

Now she led the psychedelic loyal follower to the north base, where presumably, Orochimaru visited before leaving without coming back. He might have taken the Juugo fellow with him, to continue working on his experiments, and might have left some traces and clues for his new secretive place. The thing was, she haven't found a trace of their master's chakra and had doubts there'd be one when they reached the destination. And without a doubt Orochimaru took Juugo with him. The cursed seal and its origins were the most valued study objects for the program of creating an army. Whoever survived the bite or injection of the enzyme automatically became twice as strong as before, so discarding and leaving him in some cell was out of question.

A loud crash awakened her from musings and she cringed at the sight of Kimimaro stabbing the body of an escapee that looked like a giant spider. Legs turned into hands, and beside a pair of natural arms the soon to be dead man had four additional arms that grew from his upper body.

The transformation was ugly.

A disturbing squelch put a grimace on her face and she turned away from the bloody view. That man was a prisoner and was not in good condition in the first place, and running around in wild and in total madness did not do him any good either. She knew that not many of those people came to Orochimaru willingly and even less of them survived with their mind intact. Killing them quickly and painlessly was actually mercy. But torturing them, keeping them imprisoned and experimented on was beyond human. It was a miracle she manifested few abilities she had early enough to avoid that fate, and now she had a chance to run away from that life for good. If Orochimaru was still with them and kept his promise about giving her power and rein over southern base in few years, she might have had different thoughts and plans, but as the man was somewhere quite far away, she didn't believe waiting made sense. And it wasn't like he'd go after her for betrayal, after all, she wasn't as strong as Kimimaro, as significant as the sound four, or as smart as Kabuto yet. So what if she healed some experimental objects in the past and could sense chakra for long distances? As long as she wasn't tied to Orochimaru through her position she wasn't important enough to hunt.

"Piece of trash." The white haired weirdo spoke walking away from the corpse and expecting her to lead them further to the base.

If only she could get rid of this fanatic...

* * *

Practically everything about his son was perfect. He had quick mind and body, creativity, skills and a streak of madness that was needed to survive and surprise the enemies. He strived to become independent, to become stronger and more experienced, so, the most important thing he lacked was _ambition_.

It was the same flaw Itachi had. And Itachi would reach the limit of his power quite soon, and still wouldn't have the spark that was needed to cross this limit. Ambition was something that pushed you, gave you a reason to go further, forced you to think. Without it you were not the leader but the follower, you were not the winner but the warrior, not a player but a pawn.

Shiru was still young and didn't have a grand dream yet, that would start to dictate his life, so all Madara could do for now was give the boy experience, chances and examples. He was a good father, wasn't he? He's taught him techniques that were necessary, imparted the importance of speed, reflexes and tactics. For the child of ten years old, he was a quite skilful little shinobi that had potential to grow. And Madara didn't want the boy to become a tool in someone's hands. He raised him through years to the point where he could say that he was proud and deemed his son worthy of love he had for him. Raised by rules and principles of Madara himself and not the Uchiha clan that raised slaves, the blond had intelligence, free will, stubbornness, cravings for adventures and manipulations that resembled Madara's behaviour in many pleasant ways.

And even if he had a defiance that might bring trouble to people who considered him their subordinate, Shirushi always did what Madara asked of him, pretending that he was a good obedient boy, fulfilling his father's wishes. And then he would say that Kakuzu had more money than he spoke of, Hidan feared that his God was ashamed of him, Itachi wanted to get some rest from Akatsuki business but kept the stoic facade and Deidara apparently thought that he was inferior to other members, but openly declared that he was a better artist than others, which brought him and Sasori to quarrels where they both secretly enjoyed the exchange of banters.

Sometimes those were things he already knew, and sometimes those were bits he was glad to hear and even cherished a thought about a future, where Shirushi would betray his friends and co-workers just to protect and please him.

"Are you sure you don't want to try your hand with all of them?" He asked, indicating the small crowd of monsters under the cloudy sky that gathered around the strongest opponent, apparently trying to prove their domineering power. None of them was successful, as there were corpses in pieces around the monster that was proving to surpass them in strength.

"I'd easily defeat all the smaller threats, and doing so would be a waste of time." The blond stated with disdain, something that brought a smile to Madara's face, as he wholeheartedly agreed that fighting weaklings was a waste of precious time, chakra and overall effort. "I think facing the strongest one is a logical choice. Can I fight him?" Shirushi asked with a childish, but strategical pout, pointing at the deformed and deranged escapee that kept laughing and speaking of killing everyone, with a surprising dividing of gender.

Madara laughed and ruffled blonde hair, casting an illusion that forced other weak cursed seal bearers to become disoriented and mindlessly wander in the area. "Get him, he's all yours."

The boy replied with a grin and almost ran forward, to engage the startled beast in combat. In reality, he was glad he didn't have to fight and kill everyone who occupied the territory around the abandoned hideout, because he didn't know what he would do if he had to face Shinigami and make a dozen wishes. Then again, someone might say that this was a thing people waited for. A chance to get all you wanted, at once. But then, if you got all you wanted, what would you do? Life was about living and fighting, not about getting all you wanted just because. Besides, the blond thought, by the rules of balance, if you got too much, you had to lose just as much sooner or later. And that was a no-no offer.

He stopped a short distance away from the target, that became quite aware of the fact that someone dispersed the pests to approach it. It had dark skin, black sclera, a black line that went down the nose, orange hair that were out of place and strange deformations. Inside, the body was in constant movement, internals changed places and density, amounts of chakra and shape.

One elegant blonde eyebrow rose.

Now that he was close, he could see and feel that chakra of that man was chaotic and evil, in control and out of it at the same time. He was very different from other cursed prisoners. His power far exceeded theirs.

"**Well would you look at that... the prey comes on their own! I want to kill you, yes... or maybe I should** **finish what I started first... but no, since you came to me I'll come to you."**

The voice was unpleasant, deep; the words made sense but showed that the speaker was out of it. It meant that you had to expect the worst.

Aware of visible strength the creature possessed, Shirushi started to circle it and look for openings, flaws in defence and clues about its power. He knew that surroundings could not be used that well from the first glance. Ground was hard, stones and rocks heavy and barely possible to shape and manipulate. He knew he had to fight this opponent by reflexes, weapons and tricks.

Some instincts must have emerged from the clouded mind and the beast seemed to understand what he was doing and grinned in satisfaction or excitement. It started to move in the circle too. Their eyes met in a silent challenge. One gaze was violent and wanted to kill for the sake of killing, and the other was calm in anticipation and spoke of killing for the sake of playing the game.

One push, one move too sudden to react to fast enough and the creature's deformed hand punched the blond in the chest. It was just a touch, before the beast fell forward through the boy due to a power behind the strike. Confused, it jumped to a standing position and narrowed its terrifying look.

Bent from the shock and still looking at his own chest, the boy blinked and looked to the left, where the monster cocked his head and studied him. **"Good kill..."**

Shirushi blinked again and hastily straightened, then made several steps back and unsealed shurikens from his sleeves. He threw them widely, to observe how quick the monster was, and how he reacted.

The monster extended his arm and it grew in width, becoming a shield. Thick and hard enough to resist the attack.

Watching this happening, the blond was left to gape at unusual skill his opponent possessed. Other cursed seal bearers had one form they took when they transformed, and this fellow assumed his form before Shirushi and his father entered the scene. This meant he could transform on the whim, and partly, according to circumstances.

With a glint in the eye, the blond extracted his chosen weapon from the inner folds of the cloak and after turning its form into a spear, took a stance.

As if taking out a weapon was a signal, the monster turned his fists into axes and rushed to attack. His arched slices were met with quick and precise dance that tested their speeds. And before a minute passed, the beast roared because it had no satisfaction of clashing their blades. Each time he struck, the boy simply changed the direction of his attack by what little strength he had and let the transformed arms go further. They did not struggle for domination in attacks, did not fight in a usual sense of the word and it was annoying.

Irritated, the monster transformed his arms again and attacked with chakra cannons.

Not sure how his own chakra would react to this vile one, Shirushi refrained from letting it pass through his body and instead, concentrating his chakra, gathered enough to spew large amounts of water that created a vortex shield around him. It protected him, though he felt that if he put a bit less of energy into the technique, it might've been useless. The power of concentrated chakra, rage and hatred in the bullets was impressive and put on guard.

"**Die**!" More of chakra cannons formed on the man's back and the mass of chakra bullets hit the blond and area around him, destroying it. Dust, stones and rocks flew in all directions from explosion.

And orange haired monster laughed.

Madara wasn't worried, he felt his son's chakra flicker. He wondered who the beast like man was. Another failed experiment that could not be useful without its intelligence, or something _more_? If he was so powerful, why didn't he escape before? What kind of cell or sleeping spell could contain such monstrosity?

Cursed Seal was truly an interesting thing to look into.

A blonde head emerged from under the ground behind the opponent. Seeing that there was no immediate danger, the boy silently pushed himself onto the surface and bared his sharpened teeth that also elongated due to the negative energy he used to escape the damage. His arms were tired and heavy from using all the physical strength against the axes attack.

"_**You know that you can use MY energy to put this thing in its place."**_A voice that belonged to a large uninvited fox stopped Shirushi in his tracks.

"_Shut up and don't interrupt me. I can't look like something distracts me. And I CAN'T use your chakra. " _With that thought mentally spoken, the boy made one hand seal with right hand and waved with the left one, creating sharp blades of wind and directing them at the deformed back of the man.

The beast must have felt his signature, because it turned around and faced his assault head on. The wind blades left visible damage cutting the flesh of the beast but instead of slowing him down, the wounds closed themselves, immediately.

The blond indignantly pointed at his opponent. "_That_ was _not_ part of the plan!"

The monster laughed in response and hit the ground where the blond stood a second before, with an improved, boosted piston fist. As a result there was formed a crater large enough to indicate that whoever was caught in the attack was dead.

"_No matter what kind of injury I inflict, he will get healed from damage too quickly for it to slow him down and give me advantage. His innards keep changing shape, and that should have been a clue about his regenerating ability." _Shirushi thought while grabbing his shoulder that was hit by a rock, courtesy of the flying debris. His foot brushed something and he glanced down to see someone's torn ribcage, still fresh by the look of it. _"Charming."_

Seeing that his opponent was wounded and assuming that victory was close, the beast attacked with dozens of boosters and fired them all at once. It brought so much of loud devastation that all area was covered in the dust and the smoke, nullifying the visibility.

"Mindless beast." Madara commented in a whisper, not moving from his position by the edge of the scene.

The monster growled and looked around, and then became confused by the light blue lights that appeared to fly in the air around his position. The dust started settling down when lights enveloped the orange haired man and revealed themselves to be the gleaming paper tags connected to the wire that was wrapped around him.

Not a second later, the tags pulsed with light and the dark skin of the monster started to change colour, receding in spots. At the same time, his limbs regained human appearance, as well as the rest of the body. He fell on his knees in bewilderment.

And like a puppeteer holding the strings, the blond stood sideways with his left arm raised where his fingers clutched wires and with his right arm hanging limply. Three other clones held other ends of the trap, restraining any movement the man had in plans. A left side of the boy's face was burnt from the attack but still the grin did not leave it. "Human being in the skin of the monster?" Shirushi mocked and pulled the wires so the hold became tighter.

The orange haired teen did not notice it and continued to look down on himself. Shirushi kept his attack face in place, while on the inside, he contemplated the way the teen's chakra changed its properties. It wasn't as vile as before, nor as powerful. His insides were more human like and overall behaviour sane and calm. Whatever evil controlled him, it seemed to recede somewhere, leaving behind a suspicious mark on his left palm, that gleamed with a separate life.

In that state of peace, his soul was almost pure, as if mocking the blond about his theory that a person could have one state of being at a time. And this guy proved otherwise. He had some sort of split personality, where he contained within himself two contradicting souls.

"What have I done?" He spoke quietly, seeing the bodies of his victims. He was rather sad than shocked, which showed that this wasn't a fist time he killed someone in rage.

"You did something Orochimaru would've approved of?" The blond asked with a raised brow and a pointed look at the bloody area. If it were any other man that came from under that snake, he'd have stated that he was the most powerful of followers, and nothing like few tags could defeat him. Arrogance of some of them had no limits. And here the guy was sad that people died?

"He promised to heal me." That voice was unlike anything the blond expected. Human, yes. Defeated, yes. But not full of sorrow and guilt.

Words left his mouth accompanied by scoff before he could stop them. "He wouldn't, even if he could."

With that, Shirushi made a clone that took the wires, so he could reach for one of kunai. His moves though hindered, were calm and didn't show how badly he wanted to stop. He possessed the necessary skill to heal that teen, he could study the evil chakra and his palm, and truly fix the problem, but, there was always a 'but'. His father was watching and _expected_ him to kill. He wouldn't accept the story about innocent souls, end of reincarnation cycle, or his simple wish to let someone live after fighting them. The story with Zabuza and his student was enough of example. Letting the guy live, he's made an enemy that would seek revenge, and Madara wouldn't want a repetition of that.

"Ah." The teen's whisper was like realization, he appeared to know that Orochimaru never planned to help him but use him, and yet all this time he had hope. He raised his gaze at the same moment the edge of the blade touched his throat.

"_Shinigami doesn't care what kind of soul gets in his grasp."_

At that moment in life, Shirushi understood that approval of his father, his teachings, views and goals were somehow more important than his own. As his left hand prepared to make an arch for the last strike, comparisons swirled in his mind.

"_Am I moving in direction of becoming a tool like Zabuza's, who thought that his master was all that mattered? Is my father all I am living for? No, not yet, and not really. But instead of helping this man like I want to, because I see that his power is not something he wanted to have I raise my blade to take his life, because that is what my father wants. And if I stop, how will I justify it? I'd have to."_

And the man locked gazes with him, and there was no fear, no strength, no sorrow. He just accepted it. Like he did not deem reasons to live worthy of it. Like death was not the end, not the punishment, but peace and final rest. Like after thinking of it, he came to conclusion that it was a better way out. And he did not flinch in restraints as sharp metallic edge inched closer to his skin.

"_What will I have to do, to act according to my own views, next time this happens?"_

Silently, softly, the blade went from one side of the neck to the other.

And the time stopped.

Shirushi closed his eyes, hoping that no emotion showed in them, that no one but his victim saw what little guilt, pain and indecision was there.

The feeling of presence far powerful than any, was not as ominous as before. More familiar, welcomed even. He opened his eyes to see that God of Death was already there.

At the sight something stirred inside of him, and he realized that the Lord of foxes could see through his eyes too, and for him, time did not stop as for others. Did it stop for his father?

The God reached for the soul of the man Shirushi didn't even know the name of and started consuming it. Not one to disturb the deity, the blond took a look at his surroundings and was surprised to see someone running in his direction. Running so fast that he wouldn't have noticed until attacked. Mere metres away, stopped in mid step, eyes ablaze, the white haired teen most probably aimed to stop him before the last strike.

Well, he was late.

It would've been interesting if he appeared on the scene earlier. But now you'd never know.

"I had time to think, Shinigami-sama." The blond spoke, studying the looks of his soon to be attacker. Two red dots on the forehead, strange lavender clothing... Was that some sort of uniform? It definitely did not look like standard shinobi wear. He turned his gaze back to the God that now patiently waited. "And I decided that I shall ask for ability that will let me defeat tailed beasts, ability, that will let me defeat the likes of the demon that consumed them and enslaved their clans."

Whatever sort of expression the God made, it did not look like a grin nor a sneer. **"Then I grant you the ability to intervene in the cycle of freedom, by chains of restrain and by restoration."** He poked, or rather touched the boy's chest with one finger, and then disappeared.

Shirushi felt as his body was forced into position it was in the moment the time stopped, and hastily made sure that his new attacker would pass through him.

He did, and the blond found himself standing with a raised blade, a body at his feet, four clones around him and another opponent he wasn't sure he could defeat. His previous observations showed that this one had tremendous physical strength and speed. His bones must've been as tough as steel. And his eyes spoke of rage. That combination did not promise anything good.

* * *

As they kept getting closer to the base, she recognized Juugo's signature and the fact that he was in the second level state. It most probably meant that he was enraged or faced a powerful opponent. Thus, she did not voice any of her private concerns, lest Kimimaro might decide they should move faster. She wasn't in the mood to face the guy that could kill her before she had time to blink. Kimimaro was different, he was sane and he needed her, even when using the cursed seal he thought about Orochimaru and killing her meant searching for their master blind. So, she would rather continue travelling under Kimimaro's hard stare than under the threat in the form of Big Guy Juugo.

If she was lucky, when they reached the base the orange head would be dead.

And she was lucky, because the moment they reached their destination, someone was delivering the final blow.

Corpses on their way were not so numerous as it seemed, because seeing the amount of bodies in the area almost caused her to hide behind a boulder and vomit till her stomach was pleasantly empty.

She didn't even want to make a step forward because it meant getting her boots bloodied. Just who was this person that faced Juugo, survived and emerged victorious? Till this moment in time Karin believed that only Kimimaro had power necessary to control him and his shifts in personality.

And then she thought this person was an illusion or a ghost, because in the next moment Kimimaro passed through him like he wasn't there. But no, this person was real, she felt his chakra, thick, flexible, dark and gleaming. It was like standing in the presence of predator, one that wasn't hungry, but wouldn't stand her stupidity. Strange that such powerful chakra belonged to someone as young as her. But then, she felt something even more powerful and that short intense feeling scared her.

Adjusting her glasses, she looked around in search of the source that terrified her. Dark, malicious, playful but calm chakra alerted her to genjutsu it was the source of. Shaken, she decided against dispelling the illusion, knowing that whoever was behind it, would not be happy. Instead, she stopped where she was, and let Kimimaro solve whatever problem he had.

The white haired shinobi assessed the situation and froze while watching Juugo fall on the ground lifelessly. Wires and tags were calmly gathered by clones and one of them sealed it in the scroll that was put somewhere in the original blond's sleeve.

Seeing that a newcomer was in the slight state of shock, Shirushi gripped the blade in his left hand tighter. "Is there anything I can help you with?" he chose the genuine, kind and polite tone to unsettle him even more.

"The coat you wear... are you from Akatsuki?" The teen asked threateningly. Maybe he thought that he killed the orange haired guy on orders?

Shirushi grinned in a half sane manner. "Maybe." He wondered what kind of picture he made. His right arm was quite damaged, because he could not lift it nor use in any manner. Half of his face needed medical attention, and even if he had lots of chakra, he was physically tired.

His answer affected the newcomer in a sharp, negative way, and he rushed into the fight with a scream.

_Maybe they were friends?_

The blond avoided attacks in the form of bone made sword successfully, and retaliated with his own. And he struck true, but his kunai was not sharp enough, and his arm too weak. Thrown into the fight, his clones puffed out too quickly to be used. So instead of facing the teen head on, he stepped back and focused on entering the shadows so he would not be seen.

Kimimaro, who fully intended to injure someone he considered to be an enemy, faltered in his run and started looking around, unsure of where the blond disappeared to.

The blade and the boy holding it materialized from behind and quick reflexes let Kimimaro block the attack. Using the moment of the boy's closeness, he punched him in the stomach before any tricks came in use. It pushed the smaller body of the blond into the rough surface of the rock. Shirushi had no time to be surprised about the speed of the new opponent, because all he felt was pain that spread through him as his right arm wasn't just useless anymore, but felt like it was torn off. Bones in his shoulder, ribs on the right side and whatever else, were broken and pain was so present that he was ready to collapse. This guy chose well to aim at his fresh wound, clearly not planning to play around.

And then he felt his right side burn, and his hazy mind realized that it felt like chakra. Was the fox Lord healing him?

"_Lord Kyuubi! Stop it, we can't let my father know! If he notices and recognizes your chakra we're dead!"_

"_**We'll be dead regardless if you continue this foolishness."**_

"_I said stop it!"_ Surprisingly, the presence of the demon diminished and then completely disappeared. But again, the blond had no time for analyzing it as the strong hand grabbed his throat.

"Have you and your group betrayed Orochimaru-sama? Speak you..." The teen started but was yanked back forcefully. Shirushi fell on the ground in fits of pants and coughs. His bleary eyes caught the sight of Tobi, or his father, toying with the white haired snake follower.

Karin darted her eyes between unstoppable Kaguya, a stranger in Akatsuki cloak that now protected the blond, and the said half conscious blond that rubbed his neck with left hand. She had no doubt that one on one, the boy could fight and defeat Kimimaro, if he fought on equal ground with Juugo. But fighting the two was too much for even the most experienced and skilful shinobi. Now he was badly injured and the man with disturbingly powerful chakra came out of genjutsu to intervene. In these circumstances, she didn't know what she was supposed to do. On one side, she was Orochimaru's follower, as she hasn't left yet, and on the other, she did not want to associate with him if his subordinates were hunted and killed in such a blunt manner.

The man she felt powerful chakra coming from tried to put down Kimimaro with several Fire techniques but even if it got him burned, the bone master simply became more angered and attacked with increased ferocity. And then the man put him in genjutsu.

Their bodies became still, chakra wild and power of wills beyond measure. Both of them struggled for dominance in invisible battle and moments later she heard one sharply uttered word. "Sleep."

Kimimaro's eyes dimmed and closed, and he fell on the ground unconscious.

She gulped as the masked winner turned to finish her as well, for being a witness or for being Kimimaro's comrade, which in the end did not matter, though, nonetheless, she wished that her position in the current moment was different. Judging from his chosen offensive techniques, he aimed to kill.

"Wait!" She shouted hysterically and continued before his quick pace reached her. "I can heal him! Let me live!" She pointed at the blond and closed her eyes in fear at the same time. Her body curled a bit on itself under instinct influences and several moments passed before she realized that she was still quite alive.

Reopening one squinted eye, Karin glanced up to see the red sharingan eye look down at her, narrow in thought and distrust and then, the deep but quiet voice barked:

"Fine."

Terrified and shaken, she flinched, and trying to gather herself, audibly gulped and nodded. She had a short time to plan an escape, to persuade the man to let her stay alive in case she could not run away. Everything was better than the fast, meaningless death.

"Well?" He asked, seeing her still curled and stiff instead of acting. Karin jumped and sprinted to the boy. Barely able to grasp that he could still get rid of her after she healed the guy, she fell on her knees by the blond's lying form and grabbed his head with one arm extended. "Bite!"

* * *

_Somewhere in Rice country_

She couldn't stop the smile from spreading on her face as she watched her son swing the wooden sword in mock duel with Hakujin. Standing in the doorframe of the main entrance to her house, she was somewhat hidden in shadows, so the pair did not see her. It let her observe them in joy and happiness, because she could see that the man and her son were getting closer.

Hakujin appeared quite suddenly in their lives not too long ago, found unconscious in the woods by her neighbours. Injured, bewildered and scared he found a shelter under her roof, since she was a widow with a single child and her house was much larger than she needed it to be. It was built by her late husband, who believed that they would have at least three children. Cruel fate did not let their dreams come true and she struggled to live for her child when all other reasons to live left her...

The man pretended to be defeated and then surprised the boy by grabbing him and pulling him on his shoulders to run around laughing and shouting about imaginary battle.

They called him the White Man, because he did not remember his own name.

Someone cut off his left hand, an act which looked like punishment, and left him far from villages and cities. It was a miracle he was found by her neighbours who were hunters and often went into the wild.

After a debate about letting him stay or sending him away, they gave him a testing period, which after, he proved to not only be a knowledgeable noble man, but quite fast took it upon himself to educate and watch out for her son. Thus, she didn't have it in her heart to separate them when they clearly became friends of father-son or brother like nature. She asked Hakujin to stay with them and he did not reject her offer.

Other neighbours were suspicious at first and studied him every chance they got to, examining the words he chose in conversations, things he did to repay her generosity, the way he acted towards people of their small village. Thankfully, there was no ulterior motive for his behaviour as he started his life anew without strings of memories attaching him to anyone or anything other than several people that cared for his wellbeing, her included. That way, his surroundings shaped him into the person people started to respect.

Hakujin soon discovered that he must've been a swordsman of sorts, because he possessed an obvious skill in wielding a sword and a knife, and used that discovery to protect their small community from bandits that often visited to collect what little amount of money they got from selling their farm goods. They could not protect themselves before, because only women, youngest and weakest of children and old people lived here. The cause of it was an attack the sound shinobi executed not too long ago.

An attack that took their husbands and children.

Her son, Yuusen, was too weak and sick a child to be taken by those barbarians, unlike the boy's father, who never came back from where they took him, just like all those that were forcefully taken.

Now that Hakujin was with them, women became a bit calmer, not fearing as much that those ninja will come again for their growing kids that were only infants then. Still, their community was growing smaller, as from time to time broken families, consisting of mother and a child, or grandparent and a grandchild left to travel to other countries in search of a village that would accept them and grant them safety they had no assurance of here.

They never knew when ninja, loyal followers of Orochimaru, would attack them again, after all.

* * *

_Konoha_

The best way to judge one's character and to learn things people hide from you but speak of when not in your presence, was to observe from afar, listen in from the safe distance, and pretend to be someone else, at times.

Kakashi learned it and cultivated a whole trait, or as some call it, a habit of sorts that responded to this advice that gave him insight into details. But, unfortunately, the downside of it was that the habit had grown into tardiness.

On the fateful day of team announcement for some, and grade announcement for others, Kakashi sat on the roof of the building opposite to the academy, where he could watch the students from and ponder over difficulties of accepting or failing a team. His dilemma has grown into a problem that caused him physical suffering, literally.

He couldn't _sleep_.

Each time his head hit the pillow, questions would arise about the next day and how to proceed in the future. And then answers would contradict themselves in his mind until he had not just a headache but a lingering migraine that accompanied him on every mission, daily routine and what not.

Just how to get out of the deal of becoming a jounin sensei and not get hurt at the same time? Or, which wasn't a better option but had to be acknowledged nonetheless, how to accept the position of a jounin sensei and actually survive it? Remembering the hardships Minato-sensei had to face and looking at that from a different point of view as he grew up, Kakashi could not _imagine_ that his lazy, cruel in humour, merciless in action, badass in speech, indifferent in overall behaviour personality actually _suited_ the responsibility the position of the jounin sensei entailed. Though, apparently, the Hokage could.

From his spot he could see parents approach the academy with their children in tow, some to wish them luck in their last exams, some to assure them that their grades did not matter, some to ensure the kids were not late to class, and some to congratulate on passing and waiting to hear news about team arrangements.

What a merry bunch of family sweetness...

Aware that soon the classes will start and he will have hours before showing up, to pleasantly irritate his soon to be, or not to be, team, Kakashi made his way down on the ground and proceeded to get closer to the building. He didn't get far though, because for some reason, the most ferocious woman in Konoha grabbed the front of his vest and half gently, half brutally, slammed him into a nearby wall.

Keeping the 'Oww, that fucking hurt' comment inside and letting the assault slide, he decided to greet her politely and ask what business she had with him at that time of the day. "Tsume-san, nice to see you too, to what do I owe the pleasure of your attention?"

Dark haired, wild and grinning woman ignored his tone to give her own greeting. "Well, if it isn't Hatake, the last remaining student of Minato, creeping his way to the innocent children." Here she let go of his jounin vest and made a step back to take a verbal fighting pose. Feet arranged as wide as shoulders, back straight and arms folded under her chest.

In response he shrugged the tenseness off and took a lazy and indifferent stance.

"I know that you were made a jounin sensei for the three unfortunate brats this year, and frankly, I don't like it." She said. "You better refrain from instilling into them ideals that came from Jiraiya and that have a grave chance of passing through you."

The lonely eye of the masked man glared at her. "You just insulted the three generations of Konoha ninja. Maybe you should refrain from doing _that_ openly and in my presence, Tsume-san?" He knew that Inuzuka woman wasn't on the best of terms with the Hokage, but to display such hostility? Was she really worried for the unfortunate students that could get under his tutelage? "Ideals of Jiraiya-sama and the Yondaime are reasonable and noble enough to pass onto the next generation, and would lead them to the proper morals, honour, skills and success in the future."

Inuzuka's slated eyes glared with sharpness, "Just like they led to feud in our team, disaster in yours, and would destroy any bunch of kids it comes in contact with. I don't trust you, because I didn't trust Jiraiya's teaching methods, and I know Minato well enough to expect the worst, the unexpected, unexplainable and suspicious from you."

That honestly surprised him. His glaring ceased and he stared at her searching for deception. Her actions were strange. What sort of details wasn't he aware of?

Seeing his expression, or, what little of it was visible, her gaze softened. "Don't get me wrong brat, it's not like you're an enemy yet, but history has a way of repeating itself, and I'd rather prevent that."

He sighed and realized that he was still in the disguise of the old man, clad in the genjutsu that was supposed to make him inconspicuous. That woman must have smelled him then, which explained why she saw through his illusion. He dropped it, as it was useless at the moment, and responded. "I really don't see why you're so adverse towards Minato-sensei. He's a good person and he's not responsible for every bad thing that happened to his students. I believe the same could be said about Jiraiya-sama. From what I gather, all he ever wanted was peace and love for everyone, from... everyone." He mumbled the last part remembering all the perverseness that accompanied the older man wherever he went.

"Minato is the dangerous man, because he always gets what he wants." Tsume stated, getting all of Kakashi's attention.

"_Well, he wouldn't be the Hokage if he wasn't dangerous."_The man thought.

"He wanted to be the student of one of the sannin, and he became one. He wanted the Uzumaki girl, and he got her. He wanted to become Hokage and he really didn't have to try hard. It doesn't matter if he had to act himself to get all of those, or if he received it on silver platter. You will become the jounin sensei of the snot nosed trio regardless of your plans and team performance. Doesn't that _scare_ you, Hatake?"

She was actually sincere, and she got him to think, but surely her speech was an exaggeration.

"What, you think that fate itself is on sensei's side, Tsume-san?" He asked somewhat cheerfully, trying to ease the tension in the air.

"I didn't say that." She huffed and turned around to walk away. He remembered that her son would graduate next year, and she escorted him to the academy to receive the marks for the last exams of this year. How interesting, that she cared for the fate of other children. How would she have reacted if he was to become the sensei of her son? The assault most probably would not have been verbal.

"_I would never wrong a bunch of kids, if I accepted them as a team. I am not that stupid or evil, I'd care for them, be a true teacher, so that I would not have regrets and so that there will be nothing to feel sorry for._ _What kind of ideals from Minato-sensei could hurt them?"_

So lost in his thoughts he was, that Kakashi haven't noticed that he entered the academy without his disguise and completely forgot that he had to collect his team an hour later, when the team arrangements were announced and the academy teacher gave a speech.

In unconscious state of sorts, he entered the classroom without knocking and was surprised to see surprised faces looking back at him.

"Hell must be freezing over, Hatake-san! You're early!" Umino Iruka exclaimed, staring wide eyed at the jounin that entered the room unannounced. The balance of the world as he knew it changed and the chuunin was scared to ask what happened to the man for the change to appear.

"Uh, sorry. Just thought you were already done with announcements." The jounin replied, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, in an attempt to justify his unusual behaviour. _"Tsume-san surely tipped me off balance."_

The students observed the exchange without comprehending. The jounin was strange and they hoped to avoid getting on his team, as he didn't look like he was sober, strong or competent.

"Well, I'm not done yet, but I guess you can collect your team early, as you seem so eager to get them, which I am quite happy about, by the way." Kakashi nodded and Iruka turned to the class. "Team nine, consisting of Tenten, Maito Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji, please meet your sensei, Hatake Kakashi. You may gather your things and proceed with introductions at the location of your choice." He addressed the trio of students and the jounin, who said their goodbyes with hidden annoyance and left the classroom to do as was told.

* * *

Neji walked down the street behind the duo that he tried so hard to avoid. It must've been destiny that his team-mates were people whose personality did not suit his own, which would lead to conflicts in their squad, and then, to inevitable disbanding.

"I say that we should show _all_ of our flames of youth and use _most_ useful tactics to prove ourselves to sensei!" Lee exclaimed, ignoring the crowd of people that stepped aside or separated to stay away from his path.

"I don't mind emphasising our point by stabbing him once... or twice." The green boy looked at the girl disapprovingly. "What? The guy is weird and wants us to pass some stupid test after we received our headbands! Didn't you see his annoyed expression? 'You brats aren't worthy of my time, but abiding by rules I will let you play ninja for short time tomorrow. It will be a survival test that will prove you're hopeless and I will have a right to send you home.' Did you hear the 'oh, I try my best to bear your presence' voice? He deserves to be freaking put in his place."

People walking in the opposite direction parted for the duo in a much more visible way.

It drove Neji insane. Was he the only sensible person to be on this team?

"Now that you put it that way, I guess that we _should_ use some of the dangerous techniques and aim true. He's a jounin after all, and did not train genin, but ANBU, so we have to confront him seriously." Tenten looked up at Lee hearing that speech and her wide eyes spoke visibly of awe. The boy actually sounded like there was logic in his thought process! "I KNOW! I shall speak with MAITO TOU-SAN and he shall reveal ALL THE TECHNIQUES that HATAKE-SENSEI usually USES! WE will be PREPARED!"

The girl's form hunched after the realization that Lee's 'coolness' was accidental, and for the most part, was lost to the world. "_Ne_, Neji, come _on_, _think_ of something, aren't you a _genius_?" She mumbled while glancing behind at their team-mate.

"Don't get me involved in your antics. I still try to come to terms with the fact that we will be working together, and your loud, annoying, insane and disgraceful behaviour is driving me nuts."

Tenten blinked. "Oh, sorry, I guess. No need to be a sincere asshole about it."

The boy became red with anger, completely ignoring the asshole insult. "_I_ am sincere? _I_? If I was sincere I would be audibly _indignant_ about the _green_ hideous suit! If I was _sincere_ I would have _cut off_ those-those ...dangling tails of yours to spare you trouble in ninja career! If I was a freaking sincere _asshole_ as you put it, and god dammit that was an _insult_, I would have arrogantly walked into Minato-sama's office and _demanded_ to be placed into a different genin team!" At the end of his speech he was panting in exhaustion.

The loud duo blinked at him owlishly in surprise. The street actually turned almost empty. Civilians had to be truly scared to run away like that.

"We are really sorry, Neji. Let us fix the mistake and hide in your blind spot so that you do not see my green youthfulness and the dangle of Tenten-san's tails." The green clad boy said, with a genuine expression. He grabbed the girl's hand to drag her closer to Neji with intent to get behind the Hyuuga, but before that happened Neji grabbed the front of his suit.

"Just where the hell did you get this information!" Usually composed, the boy from the branch of the clan lost all control over his emotions. His pale skin turned red in anger and fear.

"I read it in a book?" The taijutsu specialist supplied sheepishly.

"That's a lie! No book speaks of that secret!" Neji screamed and shook his team-mate.

Tenten grabbed their heads and pushed them down, to hiss sharply. "If you still plan to keep it a secret you will stay quiet!"

"Maito O-Tou-san teaches me everything he knows. He's a jounin of Konoha, and of course sometimes he forgets that some things must be kept secret... like the fact that Hatake-san possesses a sharingan behind that headband of his and his favourite jutsus are Water and Lightning based." Lee rapidly replied in a whisper. The knowledge angered Neji but bit about their jounin sensei was useful information that stopped him from tearing his team-mates to pieces. He would have a talk with that _Maito_-san.

* * *

_Sometime later_

That tails haired girl was a genius when it came to weapons, and she was just as dangerous about making traps, it seemed. Not that Kakashi got caught in any, but he could admire a work of an artist when he found one.

And he realised that traps were not supposed to trap him, but lead him to a particular spot, unfortunately, too late. And then Hyuuga engaged him in taijutsu, at the same time as flying projectiles threatened to embed themselves in his limbs.

He was prepared though for this kind of attack, and, as he was Hatake Kakashi, avoided all the danger without a scratch, waiting for Lee to attack him. His expectation has gone so far that he glanced up to see him from above, as he's watched him do earlier in his training, a manoeuvre that was supposed to surprise the opponent, but Lee was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly he heard words that forced his mind to register the meaning, for he was too surprised to think properly.

"The FLAMES OF YOUTH JUTSU!" The boy shouted making weird hand seals.

He turned around, keeping the ready stance, to face whatever was coming at him, but what he saw was beyond his imagination...

_Short time later_

Kakashi stood before the trio with his arms crossed. Behind him was illusionary thunder.

"I shall accept you as my students under several conditions. Unquestionable conditions."

The youngsters exchanged glances, communicating with each other as if they were a team for months, not a day and a half. It was amusing, and endearing to watch. Yesterday they were an eccentric duo and a Hyuuga, and regarded each other with disdain. Today they made decisions together, knowing that their future depended on their ability to use teamwork. And they nodded as one before looking back up at him.

"You," Kakashi pointed at Neji, "shall _not_ brood in my presence, nor use your doujutsu _without_ my permission." The boy humph'ed.

"You," Kakashi pointed at Tenten, "shall _not_ let your hair loose, unless you want to _die_. And NO THROWING PROJECTILES AT MY BACK AS A WAY OF EXCERCISE!" The girl pouted.

"And YOU," here Kakashi pointed at Lee, "WILL _NOT_ WEAR THIS ABOMINATION YOU CALL A SUIT! YOU WILL CHANGE THAT HAIRCUT INTO something _MORE_ PRESENTABLE! YOU WILL SHAVE THOSE PILLARS YOU CALL BROWS! YOU WILL NOT BLINK NOR WINK AT ME WITH THOSE LASHES! AND YOU WILL _NEVER_, EVER EVEN _MUTTER_ IN MY PRESENCE THE WORDS _FLAMES_ AND _YOUTH_ IN ONE SENTENCE!"

Lee's eyes became moist and he blinked numerous times as if a tragedy of sorts ad occurred.

"ARE WE CLEAR?" One jounin's eye glared at each of his new pupils to make a point and they all gulped and nodded, ready to make sacrifices so that they could become official genin.

"Good." Kakashi eye smiled cheerfully, and decided that teaching might not be that bad. And if only Gai did not adopt the round eyed boy he could actually model him into a true ninja. But well, only time will tell.

* * *

_One of Akatsuki's bases, location unknown_

It was only after Konan confirmed that Shirushi will make a full recovery that Madara finally calmed and brought his mind processes to their usual levels.

The boy was asleep, in his room that will surely come in use, and nothing pointed at ugly and terrifically dangerous wounds he received not too long ago. He himself sat in a comfortable chair by the bed, and through the hole of the mask, watched his son shift and turn, living a different life in his dreams.

Now he could safely contemplate why for a moment his son emanated a chakra that was way too familiar.

It lasted for mere seconds but left a taste of sorts that was nagging Madara's memories.

Maybe because it resembled his own chakra signature, or there was maliciousness that he himself was so used to? They were not related by blood, but he hoped that all that was familiar about the boy was inherited after years of closeness, teachings and examples, from him. It filled him with pride, adoration even. Especially as he remembered his son facing his enemy in the field of blood. The boy was walking by corpses and puddles and messes of red, where his boots were slimy, cloak he was wearing wet, and every inch of revealed skin covered in dripping or smeared blood. And through all this the adorable blond did not even blink at those details, focusing on his main goal, with intelligence and a glint of madness in his violet orbs.

He leaned over the boy and started stroking and petting his loose hairs, treading through strands with his fingers.

In various places, the bearers of Cursed Seal felt a difference in their mark to a certain degree. Like some part of them that was there, suddenly left.

Later, gradually they realized that transformation did not come to them as easily as before, and in fact, seemed to appear only in dire need. Like a last resort, a gift of power, that was accessible to them when they needed to survive, to protect, but not to kill.

* * *

_5 in the morning, Konoha_

The man in green jumpsuit and a jounin vest reached the top of the highest building in the village, and first red and yellow rays of the morning sun illuminated his form.

"YOU HAVEN'T WON YET, KAKASHI!" He shouted so loudly that half of Leaf population woke up groggily and wondered what was going on. The village was under attack? Those who recognized the voice of Maito Gai grabbed their pillows and groaned burying themselves under them. "I SHALL NOT BE BESTED! I TOO, SHALL BECOME A JOUNIN SENSEI!"

* * *

_Hakujin_ : the white man

_Yuusen_: courage and war, a cruel battle


	14. An Impulse

**A. N.** Many Hugs and Thank Yous to my new Beta/Editor! :** Warrior of Sangre**

"Speech"

"_Thoughts"_

**"Demonic speech"**

**"_Inner demonic speech, obviously"_**

_Flashback, emphasis on the word..._

* * *

One year skip

Signs Part II

_...And I will call myself a winner,_

_And put a crown above my head._

_I will give orders to my people,_

_Be their Leader, be their Head._

_And then I'll find all the answers,_

_I will engulf the world I see,_

_To sate my hunger, vent the anger,_

_Become a sinner, become saint._

_I will taste loneliness, so bitter,_

_Triumph, over everything._

_My thoughts will tangle, in the sweetest,_

_Madman's mind full of ideas._

_And I'll get bored of satisfaction,_

_And I'll get tired when they agree,_

_Then, I will find my entertainment,_

_In blood and War - my Masterpiece_.

Prologue

After having his life dictated, controlled and influenced since the very beginning, for years, Itachi was surprised that he was able to think on his own, act on impulse or had any ability to judge.

His confidence and outward calm was just a forced behaviour, and his inner struggle had a layer of illusion he put himself under. Truthfully, if he didn't believe that he was doing a right thing, Itachi would have been lost, broken and confused to the point of madness long ago.

A set of rules he formed and accepted himself became a code that replaced loyalty, subordination and trust. And now he realised that this code has changed him as a person.

He no longer waited for orders, no longer thought that superiors had a better judgement, learned to see the bigger picture from different angles. But did it give him strength, capabilities he didn't have before, or has destroyed his principles and other traits he wasn't aware of?

It's been three years. How much can a person change?

...The expressionless face was scary. Despite unmovable muscles, the eyes burned with intensity. He couldn't recognize them. The features, overall, were familiar, but seemed to belong to an unknown individual. Then, maybe to try to make him see that he knew this person, that face made a funny grimace that was supposed to lessen the tension, and instead, made Itachi scared even more... He was ready to recoil. The smile that was directed his way looked unnatural, out of place, like it was forgotten.

But most of all he was terrified of those dark eyes, that looked at him like they knew things he didn't, and judged him with no mercy, with no sympathy or care, and had all the rights in the world for that. And there were no words nor actions that could work in his favour. He could only bear that foreign gaze with as much dignity as he could.

How strange that Itachi got worked up like this only when he looked in the mirror.

Chapter 14 An Impulse

Flashback

_The trio of genin sat in a row on the roof of the academy building, facing their soon to be jounin sensei. They weren't sure if they heard of him before, or if he was a good example of shinobi, but the first impressions were far from their imaginary scenes._

"_Ah, I am so GLAD to have a girl on a team! I am sure we can use your AGILITY and make you an admirable fighter, PINKIE!_Do you dye your hair?"_Guy pointed at the girl curiously and she, shocked at his innocent speculation, shouted in response._

"_NO! I am natural!" And then, teary eyed, she melted into the puddle of water with a pink wig on top of it. That was a testament to her insulted looks._

_Guy pointed at the boy who sat at her right. "And YOU, boy with FREAKY-FREAKY EYES," here the jounin made a rolling motion with his index and little fingers, pointing at the last Uchiha, "we will make you a FORMIDABLE opponent, what with your doujutsu and stubborn character!"_

_Sasuke blinked, mortified at the idea of being trained by such an extravagant, extraordinary, utterly DAFT person, and, melted into a puddle of water with a pair of red sharingan orbs blinking on top of it. The pink wig in the puddle nearby turned in his direction and hissed something about copying someone's moves._

"_We also have a THIRD member, hmm, aren't you too OLD to be a genin, GLASSES?" Guy rubbed his chin looking at the boy who sat on the girl's left side. He heard that his teammates died on their last mission, and he himself was severally injured, and survived because he was lucky, and had medical knowledge._

_Kabuto had his eyes impossibly widened, and then, suddenly, his body turned into the pile of dust, with a pair of glasses landing on top of it._

_The jounin hummed, nodded several times convincingly at the sight of the three of them and said. "Yes, THAT was some SERIOUS genjutsu!"_

_The two puddles and the pile of dust moved quickly to the door leading to the stairs and from his position still on the rooftop, the jounin could hear the voices that were getting farther and farther. "It's that guy that usually screams some stupid stuff in five in the morning! Wakes the shit out of me every time! I swear I will never agree to be under that man's leadership, I better go back to the academy!"_

_The voice belonged to the girl, Sakura was her name. The taijutsu specialist decided that it wasn't that bad if they were running away. Many genin ran away from their teachers on the first day, right?_

_The green clad jounin followed his soon to be students right to the tower, where they were kicking at the Hokage office door, demanding to be admitted, heard, and transferred. That resulted in the Yondaime patiently insisting that the trio gave the jounin a chance. ("Guy is an Elite jounin, and you are his first genin team, he is your first jounin teacher, you should not compare him to others! Guy is_incomparable_! And if I even attempted to transfer you, it would be seen as favouritism and we don't want it, do we?_-then muttering under his breath quite audibly-_I am a Hokage, I fix matters far more important than discomfort or caprices of little brats.")_

_A short hour later, when Guy interrogated the genin about their dreams._

"_My hobbies are..." Sakura glanced at Sasuke. "My dream is to..." She flapped her eyelashes. "I like..." The girl leaned closer the her dark-haired classmate. Seeing her actions and repulsed by them, the boy grimaced and leaned away from her._

_Guy though, had a gleam in his eyes and it must have somehow reflected off the row of his white, even teeth... "A-A-A-ADMIRABLE GOAL, Sakura!" He raised the thumbs up._

_For a moment flabbergasted, the girl gaped, but then blushed and grinned up at the man. "... I think I start to like him!" And after that statement Guy could sigh with relief, after all, if one genin could admit that he wasn't that bad, the other two were sure to follow soon as well. That was what the Yondaime claimed to believe, at least..._

End of flashback

_Konoha_

In position on his knees, on the mat, with hands resting on his lap, Neji observed his mother pace around her room, chew on her lower lip, and reread the scroll.

She was beautiful in the mornings, when she let him see her without her hair done, make-up placed on her skin or kimono flawlessly tied over her form. _He_ must have seen her like that too.

Just watching that display of emotions so _unlike_ the standard Hyuuga policy, the boy felt his impatience wither and disappear, to be replaced by curiosity and contemplation.

At last, she sighed and strode back to him, and dropped on her knees on the mat she occupied earlier before she was swept by emotions. An opened scroll was left un-ceremonially, partly on her lap, partly on the floor. The parchment was official, even, with a seal that previously secured it from being opened.

"I..." She started only to stop and tightly shut her eyes. There was a smile on her face but its effect was lessened by the furrow of her brows.

"He really loves you." The boy spoke into the silence, which prompted her to look at him with those pale, slightly blue eyes. His own, tinted grey, never were as revealing or as startling as hers. He couldn't understand the source of emotion he read in them. It was like she didn't believe the words she heard and read for the umpteenth time. Her smile was sad, like she had some great understanding of things beyond anyone's wisdom, and couldn't form the words to explain something simple to him.

"I know he does. But... that's not enough. Love is never enough in and on itself." She said and rolled the parchment.

Neji raised one elegant brow. "That is _not_ going to persuade him and you know that, mother."

She caught a single falling tear with her finger and made that move look so casual that he almost did not realize what she was doing. "Well, he will just have to live with it. I am not changing my mind and no amount of romantic letters, official requests and promises is going to fix that."

The boy uncharacteristically grimaced. "Dunno, Minato-sama is able to persuade masses, geniuses and idiots, so it wouldn't surprise me if you relented in the end. He is persistent, and if whatever he's insistent about is within reach, he sure isn't about to be stopped."

In the following silence the scroll was rolled up and placed in stack on the shelf, where many others contained and related the same, Namikaze Minato asked the Hyuuga widow to marry him.

...

_Wave country_

After long months of peace and silence, Haku didn't know how to react to the presence of the visitor in his room.

He had a nice night of sleep, without upsetting dreams; woke with a smile in the morning, met with a light of sunny, shiny day that came through the window, and rose to start the trivial rituals only to be greeted with a sight of the orange fox sitting on its back legs in the middle of the room. Quite disturbing, since the animal did not make a sound to wake him up, nor to say 'hello'. All he got in response to his shocked stare was a levelled stare in return.

It seemed they watched each other for hours, but there was no battle of wills, that usually accompanied such a procedure. It wasn't about giving in and making a sound, nor about making impression lasting comment. Rather, Haku simply didn't know what to do, what to say, and the animal was 'just there'.

First thoughts that filled the teen's mind were about Death on his doorstep, about some sort of divine judgement and test he had to pass, or about that this animal could observe him for days and weeks and only now decided to grace him with a visible presence. A bitter laugh threatened to emerge from the depths of his soul, or his stomach, but he controlled the reaction, and continued to calmly regard the guest.

"Your patience is astounding." The fox spoke at last, and tilted the head to the side. "Though that could also be the way you express surprise."

The teen stared at the animal dubiously, affronted that there was no greeting, and relieved that there was no threat yet. "Well, what do you want... um..."

"My name is irrelevant. But your behaviour is a different matter."

Haku frowned. "How so?"

"You're wasting your life, your time, skills and dreams, if you have any." With that part of wisdom said, the fox disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the teen alone in a room. And after sitting on his bed uncomprehendingly for what seemed like hours, Haku opted to believe that whatever happened was just a dream.

...

_Kumogakure_

Purple irises stood out on the otherwise pale features of skin too light of the colour and white hair. And instead of looking enticing, those orbs disturbed with intensity of madness, bloodlust and craving, for something that should be out of reach for a person they belonged to.

Hidan seemed an obsessed person from the beginning, from the moment he opened his mouth, but seeing him as he was now, Shirushi knew why the man's presence was disconcerting. It was as if he could feel the amount of dirty thoughts and cruelty cover him in layers when the immortal was near. It might not affect others, or they might've mistaken their reactions for something else, but without a doubt, there was something unnatural about him and out of place. Immortality should not be available nor accessible. Longevity, yes, but not immortality. That was reserved for other beings.

With an impressive scythe ready in his hand, the man focused on the blonde female, her tense body, determined expression, sweat that covered her skin and invisible cloud of chakra she released.

Shirushi recalled all he knew about her. A jounin of Kumogakure, jinchuuriki of the two tailed demon, experienced and quite strong. And her name was Nii, something that fell into memory, because you could interpret 'second' in many ways. Second to come, second in power, second because there was someone better, or second because she could repeat some feat.

She proved to be quite smart, leading a pair of Akatsuki fighters into sewers, where she played the game of hide and seek, and instead of hiding, distracting them with something, she came back to fight the duo off. This far into the fight, in the dim light of a large room somewhere under the ground where sane people did not wander to, she must have realized that her tactics were null. Her thoughtful, narrowed gaze was no longer hiding plans, but fear and suspicions. After all, she gave them quite a beating, attacking with lighting and fire from her two tailed form. And still, the pair was alive, bored, irritated and unconcerned where as Nii lost tons of chakra, surprising techniques and aces up her sleeves.

With a determined glint in her eyes, the woman attacked the pair again, aiming to kill.

Calmly sitting somewhere close to ceiling, on some rubbles, the blond boy studied the scene with a gaze that was mirrored in an eye of his masked partner, who stood beside him inconspicuously. Tobi and Shirushi were not Akatsuki heavy fighters, they were messengers, spies, information gatherers and observers. This time, they were here to take the body once Hidan and Kakuzu finished the job. The pair of immortals had power, but when it came to stealth and speed, well, suffice to say, they could not travel through the half of Kumo with a half dead jounin so well-known throughout Cloud without being noticed, stopped, ambushed, and all other stuff that could go wrong before the body reached its destination. Therefore, hidden behind a veil of illusion, they patiently waited for a conclusion.

Explosions and flares of chakra abruptly stopped and in the following groans Shirushi recognized the woman's voice.

After the dust settled he found her on the ground, pinned there with a scythe that pierced her shoulder blade. Ouch, that must have hurt.

She tried to get free but Kakuzu tied her wrists together with his threads, which prompted her to hiss in pain. "Knock her out." The man spoke gruffly, planning to leave as soon as they finished.

Grabbing the woman without visible effort, holding her wrists, Hidan moved her up to the nearby boulder, with a wide smile stretching his face . The blond boy grimaced when a spear stuck in the rock, but not before going through kunoichi.

"Are you sure? Look at that body." Pale hands moved over Yugito's curves, barely touching her skin. "She's damn feisty, and one rarely finds a feline like that." With that said, Hidan fisted her hair that already was in disarray, and pulling her head sideways, licked her left cheek.

"You're retarded. I knew that. But now I learned that you're also a dick. Seriously, what part of your anatomy truly _thinks_?" Kakuzu appeared disgusted. It wasn't clear what he reacted to, though, the fact that his partner wanted to rape a woman, or that he wanted to touch a jinchuuriki in that way. "The bursts of chakra and amount of it should've alarmed Kumo forces a long time ago, and I doubt engaging in these activities" here the man vaguely waved at Hidan who continued to grope their target, "is proper or fitting in our circumstances. Zip up, knock her fucking out and let us leave."

The white-haired Jashin follower opened his mouth to retort but a noise from somewhere behind the destroyed walls stopped him.

As Kakuzu mumbled a quiet 'shit' Madara nudged the blond a bit. "Seal her chakra so that she won't cause trouble."

The boy nodded, relieved that the woman didn't have to suffer rape on top of the beast extraction and used shunshin to appear beside Hidan. He glanced at the trembling woman with a well hidden sympathy. Sparse rays of light that reached them from holes in the ceiling gave her an appearance of an unlucky, sad and battered damsel in... Well, whatever. Disturbing immortal stepped away with a curse and looked around, in search of the source of the noise.

Seeing that Akatsuki members were occupied with getting ready to greet their new company, Shirushi pulled the spear out of Nii and the rock behind her, which resulted in her fall. The boy ignored her groans and turned her on her back. Touching her temple briefly, he put her in sleep as Hidan chose not to follow the orders. Nagato and his father will hear of this. Then, he pulled the torn cloth off her upper body and inspected the visible seals. He didn't want her soul to be consumed by the statue along with the demon Lord, or Lady...

The link between the souls was weak, but it was there, and with a quick improvisation of applied seal and chakra it was severed. He started to work on blocking her access to chakra when someone burst into the chamber. The sounds of fighting renewed, and he heard the distinct shouts of amusement from Hidan and complains from Tobi. That was good. He used a trick of one-handed seal to numb the woman's receptors a bit, so that she didn't die in too much pain, because there wasn't much else he could do. And then he felt the chakra of another vessel, and surprised, focused on the battle.

Strong body, reflexes trained to perfection, thick and powerful chakra, abnormalities inside the body that spoke of years under influence of demonic energy. That man was a dangerous opponent, the blond thought, and that opponent was motivated by the sight of his fallen comrade. So... this was 'Ichi'. Where was his father when they had to slip away with the soon to be corpse?

Finally, Tobi stepped out of the cloud of dust and made his way to the blond, but as Shirushi looked up, he saw that another jinchuuriki was aware of their positions too. His face, partly covered with glasses turned fearful and he shouted in denial.

And then everything was happening so fast. One moment that dark-skinned man was facing the pair of immortals, and the next, he was behind Madara releasing unbelievable amounts of yin energy which could lead to explosion, stopping of their hearts or something else. Acting on impulse, even before his father turned around to goof off, he let go of the woman and released his yang to counter whatever was meant to come. In a split second he made his stupid decision, he realized that he not only could _not_ control such amounts of power, but did not _have_ it.

The clash of chakras pushed the masked man away nonetheless, and Shirushi had half a mind to grab his father to disappear in the negative currents while leaving the woman to unknown fate. Just where did this shinobi learned to do such a thing? A release like that could destroy all of them together if it was not controlled or had no channel or outlet. _This is the end for me_. The boy thought as spiritual wall threatened to sweep him off his feet.

**"_Not yet."_**Spoke the growling voice inside of him, and suddenly his pathways were filled to the brim, and he felt he had no other choice but let it out and hope that the man would stop his onslaught soon.

As a haze of red tinted his bluish energy, it turned violet, and he sought his father in the noise and chaos to let him know, with a gaze, that they had to leave.

Madara was rising slowly, staring with a single eye at them. Why was he so slow? The blond felt pain in every inch of his body, never being subjected to the chakra of the fox on that scale... That's right, the Demon Lord gave him chakra.

_This is the end, in more ways than one._

With an unintended flourish, his father grabbed the spear that previously pinned Nii to the rock, and threw it at the 'Ichi' with great force. It got half destroyed on a way through the fire of power, but still managed to reach the man's face and imbed itself in his left eye, breaking the glasses in the process. The sight of that, though morbid, satisfied the boy's hazed mind. There was a backlash of power, the last burst of chakra, and all he saw from then was a black void.

...

_One hour later, Akatsuki base_

He woke up groggy, in his own room it seemed, and wondered how much time passed. An internal clock hinted that it was about an hour. Memories flooded back and after a short jolt of shock, Shirushi sighed. Through the strange connection he had with all the other jinchuuriki, he felt where the Cloud woman was held and ignoring the stinging on his uncovered skin, made his way to her. He absently touched the jaw, where a wound was burning. It was healing, but might leave a scar too.

Finally finding her cell, the boy wondered what he was truly doing in there in the first place.

Maybe it was a little, pointless goodbye. Little, because it was one-sided; and pointless, because they didn't know each other, didn't exchange pleasantries and never introduced themselves.

Shirushi stood in the dark, dirty cell that held the unconscious jinchuuriki, musing over everything that seemed to tangle in an endless knot that was impossible to fix.

"_Why the fuck did you fill me with your chakra? It's like you could care less if your soul or whatever was left of it was extracted and pulled in that... statue."_ He directed his thoughts to his tenant, seeing the fox bound in spiritual chains with his mind's eye. That trick appeared to be a gift from the Shinigami, but he learned to utilize it a little bit too late.

**"_I don't want to die. And yes, I could care less."_ **The demon replied, growling. Surprisingly, he did not fight the binds, just accepted that he could no longer act and speak when he was not allowed to. Suspicious behaviour, but that was not the time to delve into details.

The blond inspected the seals on the woman's chest to make sure his additions did not affect the main array in unfavourable way. His hasty improvisations could result in something unpleasant, so when he found a chance, the boy decided to check his work before Akatsuki members gathered and started the extraction. Fortunately he was the first to touch the seal so his father and Nagato could not compare their findings to an original.

"_Why?"_ He demanded from the Lord, going back to their conversation_. "I thought that Lords did not like to be in control of someone else."_He referred to the being that was most probably caged in the monstrous figure, waiting to be fed.

Shirushi felt Kyuubi's red eyes narrow, slowly and dangerously, but, it did not affect him in any way, because he knew that he had quite a fine control over the demon's power, now that he knew how to use it.

**"_If it happens again, I will take over."_** He answered, confidently, as if there was plan he formed many years ago that only waited to be executed. For all Shirushi knew, it might be true. He glanced down at Nii one last time, thinking that she had a chance to live before she was meant to die, and knew that she would not wake up again, not before, and not after extraction.

...

_Somewhere quite beyond the World Map_

The snowflakes caused the sky to look white, and whoever was on the road, could not see farther than several steps. The trail led through the mountains, far from civilization, it seemed. In this cold, unknown land, a pair of humanoid forms walked slowly and close to each other, trembling and whimpering from discomfort.

"Don't you d-d-dare say that w-w-we should-d-d-d keep look-k-king!" one hissed from under the wide, heavy hood.

"K-k-k-keep q-q-q-quiet, An-k-k-ko! There's a v-v-v-village ab-b-b-bout a mile from h-h-h-here." The second person replied, trying to somehow get deeper into the heavy cloak this person wore.

"I s-s-s-swear I'll never! I'll never g-g-g-go on any m-m-mission with you ag-g-g-gain!" The first continued to whine, but leaned closer to the second to try and get more warmth and stumble in a stable way together.

"G-g-g-glad to hear that! I'll be sure t-t-t-to d-d-d-deliver the news to H-h-h-hok-k-k-kage –sama as soon as we're back!"

The second figure, identified as Anko, stomped on the nearest foot of Tenzo, because it couldn't be anyone else but Tenzo, and they almost fell into a snowdrift.

"That was s-s-s-supposed t-t-to be easy. Reach the d-d-destin-n-nation and look-k-k around-d-d! Now look you wood-d-d-den id-d-diot bast-t-tard! We're gonna d-d-d-d-die!"

"Thank you c-c-c-captain ob-b-b-bvious! But this area was the on-n-n-nly c-c-clue we had-d-d-d! Akatsuki were s-s-s-sighted here just a week-k-k-k ag-g-go, how was I sup-p-p-posed t-t-to know?"

"You're a c-c-captain, you're experienced-d-d, of course you should-d-d know!"

They continued to bicker all the way to the first hut that let them in, exchanging insults, threats and thoughts, because it kept them sane, awake, and even if it hurt the throats, it was still better than vast emptiness, cold and silence.

...

_A bit closer to the general World Map_

With a snowstorm long behind them, the pair in black cloaks travelled back to their home, quietly in a puppeteer's case, and quite loudly in Deidara's.

"Sasori-danna! Please!" the blond sniffed, curling around his partner's feet. Ignoring his behaviour, the puppeteer that kept wearing his Hiruko disguise continued to glide, successfully pulling along the blond that held onto him as tightly as possible.

"Promise! Promise that we'll not go back there!" He sobbed even harder, with streams of tears going down his face. "I will not be able to bear that... I'll die." Inwardly, Sasori fought his irritation that did not manifest due to his artificial eyes and brows that could not twitch... From below him came a pathetic whimper.

"If I knew where we travelled, I'd have warned you that I dislike, detest, _utterly_ despise cold weather!"

"Control your antics. Let go of my cloth. Shut up." Without tearing his gaze away from their path, the by far more intelligent man muttered in response.

"Sasori-danna!"

"Don't you danna me, you idiot." The puppeteer stopped.

"Promise me, please!" the blond lifted his head off the ground and looked up with large, puppy like eyes.

What got into him? Sasori thought. We just went and met my spy. I don't believe any shinobi fears bad weather. Maybe he's jealous? That would be most unwelcomed, even if flattering.

"Alright I promise. Now let go of me. Shut up. Gather yourself. Stand up. Stop making a fool of yourself. Don't bother me. Don't embarrass me." Instructions came in monotone and were slowly but steadily followed. Deidara, fresh and straightened, took his place by the man's side as if nothing happened, and with a gleaming, satisfied smile on his lips, matched his speed.

...

_Half an hour later from the last scene at Akatsuki base_

Akatsuki have not gathered yet.

The two tailed beast's jinchuuriki was ready in the cell, and last missing members were on their way. Itachi received that information through the ring. It was strange, Itachi thought that in this situation Pain would insist on using the rings to start the extraction immediately. It seemed instead, like they waited for some storm to pass. But what kind of storm, Itachi had yet to see.

He walked the corridors of the base, returning from the training grounds, sulking, though he would never admit to it. His lips were pressed into a thin line and eyes cold like never before. One more beast, one more eye, and they were closer to the madman's goal. The goal of creating the Juubi. What would they do once it was done? What if that demon set itself free? Madara wasn't that powerful to gain control over it, Itachi hoped so, at least, so the man must've realized that pursuing the idea was extremely dangerous. Pain was there to make sure the plan worked, but if there were two of them, and they had different goals, then which one of them had an upper hand? Suddenly Itachi remembered, that this question was once voiced by a little boy, with blonde hair and violet eyes. It was sometime after they met and had conversations. Itachi didn't understand it then, believing that it was Madara who was in power, but as time went, and he had a chance to observe, he found that both of them had grand ideas, were motivated by their past and worked to change the future.

But they were different. It wasn't like they were close friends and shook hands to achieve a shared dream. There was respect, admiration of sorts and at last, a competition.

His train of thoughts was stopped when he heard what he could describe as whispers. Well, isn't that strange too? Usually when hearing voices, one recognized shouts, complains, bickering and conversations of the members, but conspiratorial whispers? That was new.

He tightened his control over chakra, making it barely noticeable, stopped close enough to hear, too far to be seen, and focused.

"...admire that most of all. I think he trained him for years." That voice belonged to Kakuzu. You could hear that he spoke with emotion, almost worshiping that someone. Casually, he directed his strings to stitch Hidan up, who as usually, did not care about the damage taken by his body. The pair looked like they had just left the battle scene.

"And two members waste their time fucking _combing_ elemental nations for a kid? Isn't that stupid, eh, Kakuzu?" the harsh, somehow high-pitched whisper belonged to Hidan, but what he spoke of seemed...

"That's the beauty of it. Don't you see? It was supposed to be a secret, even to us. A secret till a time came for it to be revealed. Pain solved Akatsuki's main problem years before it came. Making it an obvious move for other onlookers, he fooled them, giving false directions."

Heart racing too fast to be controlled, fingers twitching on their own accord, Itachi hoped that whatever he heard he interpreted incorrectly. Because if he was right...

"And I liked the kid. Wicked, with wits. Could've taught him something." It was a first sentence without a curse that Itachi heard come out of Hidan's mouth.

"Yeah." The older man spoke distractedly. His agreement was deep, with sentiment and remorse all placed in one word.

Itachi closed his eyes as the pair slowly walked away, to spread the rumours, probably. It was the end. In more ways than one. What to do?

He wanted to pace, to think, to rub his face and hope that solution will form itself in his brilliant, as people tended to say, mind. But his feet took him down the corridors and his heart continued to beat in a rhythm that was foreign. Instead of doing something productive, his hands simply twitched without knowing what to do. Why did Kakuzu and Hidan know? How did they found out? Okay, they are partners, they work together. Start to think. Where have they been? In Kumo getting the two tailed beast, now the woman was in the cell, waiting. Have they already given their report to the Leader? How come they got back so fast? It should have taken them days to return. There was only one person who could make it happen. Madara. But what did it have to do with Shirushi? He wasn't there. Or was he? When did Itachi see him last time? Several days ago. And Madara, or Tobi, whichever mask he chose, even before that. Unless they met by chance or had a joint mission.

Something happened and he was blissfully unaware. If the immortal pair knew, Sasori knew, Orochimaru knew but hopefully forgot, Itachi himself kept quiet, then it wasn't long before everyone found out, if they haven't yet. It meant that the secret was out and as it seemed, the members would believe that it was Pain, who found the boy years before and trained him to use him, and to kill him, in the end.

But if Madara did not know, then Pain did not know, either. This same question without the answer. Where did they find the boy and why did they not know he was Namikaze Naruto?

Subconsciously, he reached the destination, and it was a kitchen, where the boy that occupied his thoughts sat by the table, gazing at the clock. He leaned on the surface of said table, with his head on crossed arms. And he looked absolutely adorable. Little brother...

What to do? Itachi couldn't hide him, because Madara would find him, by simply focusing on his chakra signature. Shirushi could not run, because his trail could be followed by Zetsu, by spies that Akatsuki had everywhere, by the same chakra. He needed protection. Something big, something obvious.

The black haired teen stepped into the room and finally noticed that there were scarred marks and scratches on the boy's face and hands. Schooling his features, Itachi walked to the worktable that was on Shirushi's left, and lifted the plate off the bowl. There was steam rising so he closed it back.

"I hate to wait three minutes for the ramen to cook." The blond muttered, glaring at the clock that finally beeped in alarm. He stood up and Itachi grabbed the boy's chin to look at his face closer.

"What happened?"

Shirushi turned his head and stepped away, to pick up his meal. He placed the bowl where he sat a moment ago and after mixing the ingredients together, started eating in silence. Confused and alarmed about this behaviour, Itachi grabbed a second chair to sit beside him.

The wounds were fresh but did not look like they were inflicted with a weapon. There was no response to his question so he gathered that he would not get it. "Alright. What do you plan to do? You don't look like you plan to run." There was no point in dancing around the subject. If Akatsuki knew who Shirushi was, their topic from the moment on would be about whether or not to extract the Kyuubi. And in most cases, the answer would be, yes.

"I don't plan to run." Simple and easy. Where was the survival instinct? Purple eyes looked up and Itachi was surprised to see tranquillity there. Being open about who he was did not scare the boy. Did he not think that they would kill him, like they killed all the others? Or did he not care?

"I was afraid you would say that." Itachi muttered with a sigh.

...

_Somewhere on the territory of Water Country_

He chose that country, and it's island on purpose, in principle. Just because he hated Fire Country and would rather choose the opposite. The winds around here, silence and dark clouds that often covered the sky played along with his mood, making Madara believe that this place suited his needs.

His old house, where Shirushi grew up, was still there. It was empty, it changed location, but it was still the same. He rarely visited, but felt sentimental about it. His son would feel even more sentiment about it. There were memories of their first words, trust and affection.

Here, in front of the facade and its steps, Madara faced the beginning. He remembered being confused and excited. He held the child in his hands with curiosity and visions of the future. There, in that future, Shirushi was meant to stand by his side, with power and knowledge. The boy's devotion was never absolute though, and Madara _loved_ it. In following his orders and teachings, the boy picked up his own traits and if Madara was never faithful, devoted and pledged to anyone but himself, Shirushi followed that example too. Never having raised a child before, the old Uchiha was fascinated as years went by. Liking and caring for the boy was not enough and he came to love him, in some special though still a bit twisted, way.

There was no doubt that Shirushi belonged to him only, solely, exclusively.

_So why has he never seen any hint, any sign about the boy being someone, something, else?_

The man entered the living room and started to pace left and right, determined to tear a hole in the carpet, it seemed. A part of his focus was directed at the chakra signature of the boy, that was at the base. The signature was calm, serene, even. As if nothing changed.

But everything _has_ changed. When countering Hachibi's chakra with his own, _when did he learn to do that?_ the boy did not take into account the amount of chakra his opponent used and consequently, had to rely on the different source. And as tails of red spread around his form, Madara wanted to scream in denial. It wasn't true, his sight was wrong, or it could be genjutsu... But no, his senses did not fool him. And he felt this chakra before_. Nine-Tails was always there_, from the moment he picked up the baby that was left in fire.

Not really comprehending what was going on but intending to sort it out, he decided that Hachibi was an excrescent factor, and seeing the first object that could be successfully used, Madara grabbed the spear to break the man's concentration. Piercing his eye was an added bonus.

The clash of energy distorted and resulted in explosion that pushed the black man away, injuring him further. But instead of being subjected to the same fate, Madara stared at the rectangular mirror that held his shocked reflection within. Then less than a second later, it cracked and exploded too. On reflex, he protected his face in case his negative energy was too late. The shards passed him with disgusting noise and a whistle. "..._What was that? Ice? Shirushi did not show this technique before. Did he learn it in secret...?"_Possibly. The boy could do many things he did not reveal, and use moves he formed on the fly.

It made him feel proud for a moment, then. But seeing that Hachibi jinchuuriki was ready to rise and continue fighting, Madara opted to act fast. He appeared by Shirushi's side and saw that another ice mirror protected him as well, but the shards of various size imbedded themselves in uncovered skin, his face and hands. The boy was unconscious when it happened, having exhausted himself.

Madara carefully transferred the boy's body into his eye, and quickly repeated the process with the body of the woman and the pair of dumbfounded immortals. Without further ado, he disappeared, taking everyone to the current base, leaving the dangerous Eight Tails jinchuuriki behind.

"..._Why? Did Shiru know, or did he not_...?" Most probably, he remembered what happened before he lost consciousness. ..Shirushi had good memory. So he analyzed what happened as well, and found out the truth along with Madara, _or_, he was aware of who he was even before that, and this incident was not an eye opener, but an accident that revealed the truth to others. And judging by the lack of reactions from the blond, Madara leaned towards the last alternative.

At that moment, Nagato was most likely puzzled about his absence and curious about the new development. His first thought would be that Madara knew all this time. Because, how could he _not_ know? Well, he didn't. And now that he did, he didn't know what to do. Jinchuuriki were discarded after the demons were extracted, but Shirushi was not a jinchuuriki, he was not a 'human sacrifice'. The boy was his _son_, in everything but blood. His son that was not running away from the truth, that was ready to face Madara and accepted everything in silence. Trained to fight for Madara's cause, and from the very beginning, influenced by his father's morals.

The man even _wanted_ the boy to jump and run, because he couldn't imagine how they would face each other.

There was a slight disturbance he felt, coming from the boy and Madara stopped pacing to fully focus on the signature. There was a moment of worry mixed with surprise.

Not wasting time wondering what surprise was about, Madara was already acting and travelling to the place where Shirushi was a moment ago.

The swirling of images revealed a kitchen with a smell of noodles. Shirushi's most favourite dish. The bowl with unfinished food was on the table, with a slight steam still spinning over it.

_Shiru never leaves his bowl unfinished_. For him that was wasting time cooking and disrespect of food.

His signature was moving away, with...ah.

...They would not get too far away.

Itachi's trace was in the kitchen also, along with a web of... genjutsu? Why? _Itachi knows perfectly well that there's no illusion that could affect my son_. That was supposed to be a trap maybe? For whom? _For me? That's sweet._

The sound of amusement came from his throat, and Madara took off his mask to fully disperse the layers of unknown genjutsu Itachi placed over the room. He discarded all of them but one, that covered something in front of him. Frowning, Madara unveiled the last illusion with a blink of an eye and stared at the backrest of the chair, where quite calmly, waited the black crow. A summon that no doubt belonged to a teen.

"Peculiar." The man muttered, stepping closer to the bird, but suddenly stopped, when he paid attention to its left eye. There was a sharingan orb, and if he was correct in assumptions, it was Mangekyo. "Huh..." He furrowed his brows and in a flash of movement threw a knife at the summon, before whatever else Itachi prepared could be used against him.

The weapon imbedded itself in the wall behind a chair, as the bird dissolved into nothingness. There was no puff of smoke that should have indicated that it went back to the summoning realm, which put the man on guard even more.

What now? Itachi took Shirushi and would try to hide him. He's already made his choice and knew where his loyalties were. But Madara didn't know what to do once he caught up with them. Finding and following them was not an issue. Facing his son was at the moment the most complicated matter.

Unsure of anything, he placed the mask back upon his face and slowly strode out.

...

Flashback

_That day just had no end. Horror of the night was getting more and more disgusting._You leave me no choice. _He said. It was true. What else was he supposed to do when he was one and against the armed forces? He could fight the arrogant, temperamental and careless Uchiha, his blood relatives; defeating them was achievable and believable, but he could not in his right mind, face Danzo's army._

_So he had to agree to the man's demands, to protect his brother. And now in the darkness of the night those emotionless, cold-blooded soldiers of his were gathering the bodies and along the way, took out the developed sharingan eyes, sealing them in the scrolls. It was inhuman. There was nothing left of honour, morals or the sense of right and wrong._

_Maybe it was fate that on his stiff, last stroll through the district, he passed the body of his fallen friend. Shisui was as he left him, dirty, bloodied, and... dead. He was possibly the most powerful Uchiha the clan could offer in the last decade, and Itachi touched that level recently, just barely. It just so happened that this time, when they fought, Itachi calculated his moves one step further than his friend._

_Soundlessly, he stopped by the corpse and knelt. The unusual skill of shunshin, deadly and definite, was probably one of the things Danzo pursued in his greed filled mission. Leaving it in the man's hands was like giving him another weapon._

_Steeling his resolve, the teen hid his actions behind a wall of genjutsu and plucked one eye out, ignoring the shaking of fingers, disgust, nausea and self loathing he felt. Following the example of the masked squads he sealed it in the spare scroll, and decided to damage the other eye, so it could not be used._I'm a monster.

_He sensed that someone was getting closer. Having no time to execute his plan Itachi quickly rose, finally letting go of Shisui's body._I'm no better.

_Terrified face of Sasuke, surprised expression of Shisui, images of dead relatives flashed before his eyes as he turned and ran._I just wanted peace.

End of flashback

_I just want this madness to end._

Itachi discarded his Akatsuki cloak somewhere in the bushes and started taking the same one off the blond. Shirushi was still unconscious, thankfully, but just to be sure, he pressed the vial with clear, odourless and tasteless liquid to the boy's parted lips, tipped it and massaged the throat so he would swallow.

Perplexed about the heaviness of the cloth, he checked the underside and found sheath like pockets for the modified, long and double kunai. There were seals as well, drawn on the fabric. The same was with the sleeves, where numerous seals and pockets looked like fetish for as long as you inspected the cloak inside out.

He couldn't throw it away. There were weapons, secrets maybe, and who knew what and where the boy carried with him. Sighing, the teen put the cloth back on the blond and arranged his limp body on his own back, so he could grab the boy's thighs. And then he ran, forming plans and counter plans, preparing for the worst. For his trap to have been futile.

He would wonder about the cost of that impulse later. For now, he just had to buy time.

* * *

End of chapter 14

**A. N.** first rhymed lines are awesomely and pleasantly mine, so no copying!


	15. Then again, all was done in the name of

Edited by **Warrior of Sangre**

"Speech."

**"Demonic speech."**

_Emphasis on the word or a thought_

Chapter 15 Then again, all was done In the name of Love

"Burn it." He said, clearly and consciously, ignoring even the tiny amount of wonder, longing and unexplained pain he felt when those two words passed his lips.

"Burn it." He repeated, when with a bit of doubt, someone stepped closer and showed a curious or expensive, rare, advanced thing.

Burn it, burn it, burn it down, till there's nothing left. Nothing left of doubt, nothing left of the past or reminders, memories.

The amount of sins, limits crossed to achieve some results he witnessed, left a bitter taste in his mouth, a nightmare he woke from every other night, a shiver that daily appeared on his skin. They said, that he was a genius, that he sacrificed his conscience. They said that in the name of discovery, science, he became a monster. He heard awe, worship in their voices, saw it on their faces. Their twisted minds were corrupted, tainted, by his influence and presence.

"Kami forgive me for coming to senses too late. Let me burn, just like all that I've made, in hell."

In fear of becoming that monster again, he burnt even the journals, notes, scrolls that held secrets that might change the world. And he refused to be called by the name they whispered in reverence. A snake, or an eight headed dragon, was rarely referred to as a good and helpful being, rather, it was seen as a beast.

"Hakujin-sama." But they still called him their master, barely believing his change of actions. "This is the last of lairs that we know of." Kimimaro spoke, as other young ninja stood behind him, ready to follow his orders. How did he gain their loyalty? Did he use charm, kindness or threats and brutality? These children called themselves his servants and guardians, sound ninja that wanted to follow him regardless of changes. For that, they had to trust him, love him, respect him or they had to be traitors that waited for a moment of weakness, to attack. But thus far, their faces spoke of sincerity. "What are we doing now?"

"Now, we go back home." He said, having a tight hold on the pendant he wore on the chain, and looking around at the gathered ninja. All objects that he deemed safe, were to be taken with them to Rice, and to the Sound village that Orochimaru started creating years ago. Unable to take home from these people, he decided to help Sound flourish, instead. Even though unwillingly, he was its leader, and finding himself in position of power, decided to use it to ...fix some things.

...

On the edge of the Fire country

As they stood off facing each other, Kakashi wondered since when his not so competitive nature has given in into Maito demands. Usually he would ignore the annoying jounin and be done with it, or be amused with the man's antics but not show it. Now though, since he became a teacher, and Guy appeared to acquire a team too, Kakashi wanted to show off.

It just didn't work... the first time. Not like he openly agreed to participate in any competition.

They were in the wide corridor, by the double doors that supposedly led to their employer, with their cute students standing beside them, clearly creating a gap in between. His little ninjas stood on his side, probably not getting the point of hostility between the pair of jounin, but nonetheless making sure that visually, they supported him in every way. Even Lee put a very convincing mask of neutrality, though he faced his father. It helped that he was clothed in a dark grey attire, similar to Kakashi's own (with shorter sleeves and without a mask) and it did not make him look like mini Guy... too much. Neji was a Hyuuga and let his hair grow impressively... sometimes both Kakashi and Tenten were convinced it was a competition between he and Tenten about the length, as he could not compete with her cuteness or whatever else. Aside from that, he too, looked like a ninja, in dark brown pants and loose beige jacket, which gave him freedom in movement, and black high boots he got from Minato-sensei. Tenten chose a very dark (Kakashi insisted) green for her dress and black pants, and her overly large scroll on the back and a pair of buns on the head made her look far too cute to not tease about. Still, it was better than the bunch of circus that was team seven. Bowl cut and wild green of Guy, blinding neon pink of his female genin, blue and white (referring to the Uchiha fan?) brooding trend of Uchiha and a teen that was too old to be genin. Harmless glasses did not make people trust you with their lives. Overall, if client were to choose a team basing on their visible presentation, team nine was sure to win.

But that did not change the fact that team seven got to the destination faster. Oh yes, Kakashi could imagine it in his mind's eye, the glasses guy hopped on the man's back, and the pair of chibis were grabbed under the man's arms as he let go of weights to run here himself. He'd never believe those three had the speed that matched chuunin, or even standard genin level.

**A. N.** Kakashi doesn't know that all four hopped on the back of the turtle that matched the speed of an elite jounin...

Anyway, here they were, glaring and waiting, because some idiot behind a door decided that he needed to show off too, and make it seem like he was a busy, important and needed person. Just who called whom?

"Oh my, is it already this time of the year?" Guy asked, directing all puzzle turned glances on his person.

"No." Kakashi replied, not in the mood to explain to genin that this village hired teams to poison the fields since rats and other pests attacked the harvest.

"Hmm, let me guess, Torah the cat of Daimyo's wife reached this area of our country because she was a witness to the Inuzuka dogs mating season?" The man thought loudly, with no lying bone in his body. Instantly the pink girl and Neji turned green with nausea. Kakashi glanced at his student, wondering if the boy had any other reactions to the mention of animals.

"No." Kakashi replied, now completely sure that Guy was not notified about any details concerning this mission, thus Kakashi himself was automatically put in the captain place and status. Not bad.

"Oh, and what about those merchants that sold fish, did they bury that stinking stuff at last? Must be utterly rotten by now."

If it was possible, the pink genin became even greener, and all present save Guy himself joined her. Even Kakashi. "Thank God, No."

"Hmm, then maybe..."

"Could we simply wait for mission details, perhaps?" Glasses interrupted sheepishly, but with a glimpse of annoyance on his features. Guy sighed and nodded, while Hatake blinked. _It's always the quiet ones, Kakashi_, his subconscious supplied.

...

When they finally met the employer, polite greetings and smiles aside, instead of presenting and explaining the situation, the old man invited them to have a walk and visit the place where all questions would be answered. Wary and suspicious, the group of ninja followed, and was led to dry, abandoned ruins that had several guards that waited for them.

"You may or may not recognize the temple built by Uchiha clan. It was abandoned and left empty years ago, and surprisingly, our village was not aware of the place until we decided to build something else in area." The old man spoke, with a bit of fear, awe and giddiness.

Kakashi nodded, looking around. "There was a strong genjutsu that prevented people from noticing the remains of the temple. But once someone started to work in this territory it was no longer strong enough to keep people away from here." He thought aloud, studying the surroundings.

The building was destroyed, mostly, with several walls, columns and steps that led nowhere, still standing here and there. Faded crest of Uchiha clan was present in two or three places, but as the rest of debris and stones, was of no value. As Kakashi was no expert nor architect, he could not imagine how the building was supposed to look, how high the walls went and where were the entrances. Lack of clues was in the bareness of the place. Still, the fact that the ruins had an active genjutsu protecting them meant _something_.

Sweat dropping in confusion, Pinkie looked at the old mayor. "I don't get it, sir, you want us to clear this place?"

Both Uchiha and Hyuuga present shut their eyes to keep their temper in check, ready to attack the girl for her stupidity. Amused, but at the same time alarmed, Kakashi watched the old man tilt his head for one of the guards to lead them to the centre of destroyed construction. Then, cautiously, ordered to open something.

A stifled gasp from Uchiha brat gathered his attention as the same guard lifted the stone from the floor with the help from Guy.

Stairs leading down into darkness picked the curiosity of everyone, even if there was a dose of fear. Understanding flickered in his mind as he remembered a similar picture in different circumstances, when Konoha shinobi forces found the information that changed the view and opinion of the clan in most people. Sasuke was not aware of Konoha awareness of course, since no one confronted him on the subject. But without a doubt, he connected the dots and knew what to expect.

One by one, they were led downstairs into the hidden chamber, lit by torches someone already prepared. It wasn't as dusted as it should have been, Kakashi noted, but guessed that when workers found the room they cleaned it up before inviting the guests.

All eyes were instantly drawn to the wall with a visible rectangular stone tablet. The words were indecipherable and seemed to blur and change shape.

After a minute of silence where the only movement came from shadows created by fire that danced on the walls, the mayor spoke, quietly, as if afraid to raise his voice. "This is the reason we called you here. The words are unreadable, and we suspect that only Sharingan wielder can see through the trick."

Tilting his head, with an air of annoyance and indifference, Kakashi answered. "Let me guess. You also can't take it off."

The guard and the mayor exchanged glances. "H-how d-did you know?"

Eye smile in their direction made them sputter even more. "Just a hunch." And the response seemed to ease the atmosphere in the room, because the genin exhaled in exasperation and glared the one-eyed jounin.

...

Konoha

Definitely tired, physically and mentally, the pair of ninja stood trembling before their commander. The office was mostly empty, save for the desk and its owner on the chair, and a cabinet full of folders. As there were no windows, one lamp lit the room from under the ceiling, quite ominously.

In this ungodly hour, four in the morning, Morino Ibiki somehow already waited for them and for their report. They decided to ignore what it said about the man's working hours or insomnia and prayed that soon he would order them to have rest, or at least, dismiss them.

At the meantime, Ibiki studied their appearance. Tenzo looked horrible, more than ever. Dark circles under his eyes, dirt and sweat on his skin, hunched posture and torn clothing said all he needed to know about the state of the operative. He's been through hell and could not think nor care about anything other than sleep. Food, hot bath or miracle news would not satisfy him. Even if Hashirama himself was revived Tenzo would ignore it, blink two times and demand to be led to the bed. Mitarashi, on the other hand, seemed to sway as she stood beside her partner, as if she was unable to be stable as she struggled to keep her feet planted. The next thing he noticed was the lack of her short sexy skirt, and a pair of pants in its place. Something _fundamental _must have changed this trait of hers. And her bra, it was hidden now by the shirt, black and sleeveless, but a shirt still. Ibiki wasn't sure if it was a cause to be happy, or a cause to be sad. His eyes travelled up and settled on her face, and most importantly, greenish orbs that glared daggers and relayed a message clearly, _get on with it scar-head or I'll discard common sense and force you_. She did not make a sound and again, it was a change he could not reason out, if that was for worse or better was yet to be seen, so he cleared his throat and started.

"Good to see you whole and healthy. I expect a detailed report in two days, but for now the most important news will suffice."

Tenzo nodded. "We followed the Akatsuki members in their trip, and identified one of them as the Iwa terrorist, Deidara. The pair went beyond the borders of Lightning Country, to the north, and met with unknown individual in an uninhabited land. They spent a night in the house of an associate and travelled back. After ambushing and... thoroughly questioning the said associate, we obtained the confirmation of Akatsuki group movements. They are gathering bijuu and currently are interested in everything Kyuubi related. That informator sold the details about graves with bodies of Cloud's gold and silver brothers. But most probably, those rotten bodies are of little value."

"Most probably. That associate must have seen and inspected them, since he knows of location. Is that all? Is he still alive after questioning?" The commander asked and Tenzo slowly turned his accusing stare at the madly grinning girl.

Ibiki noted the insane smile that answered his last question and suppressed the urge to groan. He could only hope that Tenzo was clear-headed enough to clear all evidence, pools of blood and what not that could compromise Leaf's position. In little known country no less.

"We could not leave not getting a present for you, Taichou." She sounded serious, with a note of mocking. And wobbly, she reached his desk and placed a standard sealing scroll on the surface.

"We were lucky Anko recognized one of the artefacts that belonged to the brothers." The tired man explained, ignoring the widening of Ibiki's eyes.

"Orochimaru's extensive research into souls." Anko supplied. She was glad that there was at least something she knew and her instructor did not. Tenzo heard of the dangerous things Kumo brothers were in possession of, but did not know of their form and use.

Sceptic but silent, the commander of their mission unsealed the item and raised a brow when the puff of smoke revealed a rope. It did not look any different from usual ropes. He took it in his hands and examined the item closely. "And I'm supposed to believe this is some sort of artefact?"

Unable to response, Tenzo uncharacteristically shrugged. It did not look like he cared at that point.

"You can try channelling your chakra through it." Anko hinted, still smiling and swaying, though her movement now gained an excited quality.

With a frown, Ibiki did just that and as a result, he slumped in the chair, his head fell on the desk with a surprised expression still present. Taking into account that he was physically and mentally almost as tired as the pair before him, the rope quickly depleted him of chakra. Anko playfully pulled it away from him and sealed it back into the scroll. At that point in time, Tenzo started to sway on his feet as well, observing her sluggish actions, but did not comment nor react in any way to it.

"I believe we're dismissed now, woodman." She announced and wobbled to the door. Her instructor nodded sagely, and followed.

...

The next day, morning

Two ravens flew in the sky in circles. Itachi knew if they noticed any shinobi or squad their behaviour would change. It would alert him that his position wasn't safe.

The rustle of leaves in the wind brought a nostalgia and melancholic mood. There was something about the air, the taste of memory, and something about the sights, that reminded of buried scenes. How much changed since he's been home last time? Has Konoha changed as much as Itachi has since leaving it? Or was it the same, cruel in kindness and twisted place of the damned, broken and unaware?

Warm light of the sun broke through the canopy of trees and greeted him as if willing to embrace him without scolding. Everything was so calm and eternal, as if this quiet morning would never be disturbed. What awaited them? Little brother who lived to seek vengeance, blood father who must have lost hope. Society that would not accept them, unless they were heroes, innocent of crimes.

Soft, long blonde bangs fell on his left shoulder, where Shirushi's head rested. It tickled his neck but Itachi only smiled at the weight. The boy wasn't heavy but Itachi wasn't tall and all that muscular either. Thankfully, he could still keep the balance.

As he got closer to the village walls he prepared to pass the barrier that protected the village from intruders. It did not matter which point he came from- his identity would be immediately recognized- so Itachi chose to enter from the side that wasn't as populated by shinobi as the market or clan districts and compounds. From the moment his chakra was detected and additional person taken into account, at least one anbu squad would be sent to intercept them and imprison them or kill them. The most important order anbu operatives would get is protection of the villagers and ninja population, and it never mattered what was the cost. Unless that changed in his absence, but that was doubtful. The code anbu operatives followed barely changed since it was established.

When the high wall was in view, Itachi had a ridiculous notion that Zetsu would emerge from one of the trees, or the ground to prevent him from entering. He's crossed such large amount of territory that it was unbelievable he'd achieve the goal. Would Madara suddenly appear on the edge of the wall and claim he's waited? Claim that he knew everything from the beginning, was not fooled by tricks and planned to make Itachi's life miserable. Just a little, just a step...

They passed the wall and were inside. No Zetsu, no Madara in sight. Was it that easy? Paranoid now beyond anything, Itachi realized his prepared plan of intruding. Illusion of a pair of Konoha shinobi in classic chuunin attire went up, and he confidently ran to the centre of the village, using rooftops instead of the streets. His eyes went in every direction, subtly as to not seemingly call for help, in search of the enemies, or potential enemies. Now that he thought of it, maybe it could be better if he sent a letter to the Hokage beforehand? But then there'd be at least three squads of anbu and the Yondaime himself awaiting at the gates. Useless idea, but at the moment of panic it had merit.

A familiar scent of home invaded his nostrils and Itachi prayed to whatever deity there was to protect them. Because on his back was not a boy, not a ninja, but a monster, a weapon he knew he could never control, and he had to keep it away from hands that knew how to use it.

* * *

In the quiet of his office, under the soft morning light and in the company of the wind that came from the opened window, Minato hunched over the papers, writing and erasing, cursing under his breath.

Creating changes of the magnitude he suspected he aimed at, was like starting a revolution or a war. But he was so stubborn that he couldn't stop now, after all, he foolishly promised that he would fix the problem; mainly, the separation of the Hyuuga clan into two branches. In his mind, at the time, such a thing was beyond logic, as it did not give advantage, support nor did it have any strategy. Just gave one part of the family power over the other, and was a source of bitterness, resentment and conflict within the compound.

Sadly, Minato's reason was not as noble as the case itself. Hikari, wise and humble she was, kept placing obstacles on his way of claiming her love. Changing her social position as the widow in the branch family, which could determine his position as the Hokage, was another test she set out for him. Another one of many, that motivated Minato like never before.

Sooner or later, someone would have had to change the ways of that clan, Minato told himself. First he'd present the various reasons for banishing the seal, including the way it affected the health and mental state of its victims. Then he'd nudge them in direction of uniting their houses, which was like telling Leaf villagers that they will share their home with the guests from Stone. And then, maybe, the next generation will ignore the past and there will be 'lived happily ever after'.

_Ridiculous. _The blond exclaimed internally. _I have no idea where to start. Something must be interfering with my wisdom today._

In an attempt to bring order to his train of thought, he started tapping his chin and raised his head to look up at the ceiling. His gaze though, did not reach that high up, his hand holding the brush stopped midair, because his eyes landed on the figure of Uchiha Itachi. Someone that should have been an illusion, or a dream. And the teen looked like he patiently waited to be acknowledged for quite some time. And he wasn't alone, he brought someone unconscious on his back.

In a quick mode, Minato analyzed the situation. The window was opened for warm winds to enter. Itachi used to work in anbu squad so he knew about the barrier around Konoha, could have guessed how to fool the patrols around the village, therefore had no trouble in penetrating the walls. The guard platoon, _now sounded stupid_, they stood just outside the office and beside the window without bothering to look in_. I believe I hired and trained incompetent idiots._

Hurried steps resounded outside the doors, and a second later his door was banged open for Kotetsu to scream. "Hokage-sama, the chakra of Uchiha Itachi was just... detected by the barrier team." He finished meekly as he finally noticed the said intruder before his eyes. Even clothed in a simple mesh shirt, plain grey pants and black sandals with atypical warmers, Itachi intimidated by his mere presence and a history behind his name. At this point the guards were already surrounding Minato's guest with weapons at ready.

One of them shifted a bit and Itachi's eyes turned immediately, to see if someone would dare and attack. Sharingan was active, spinning dangerously in confinement of his irises, but that didn't seem to be the reason the ninja were stalling in apprehending him. Minato knew that after rumours of Itachi's insanity and bloodlust, everyone expected him to be a mindless monster, and the teen's apparent quiet and patient behaviour unsettled them.

Tired of the circus, the blond man stood, raised his hand that still held the brush, to stop the commotion, and motioned for his ninja to leave, simply waving his hand a bit. Though hesitating, the group of protectors and Kotetsu left, remaining outside the walls of the office, leaving Minato face to face with the teen.

Surely, he hoped to hear from Itachi one day, receive a note or message through someone. He believed that one day he could find out what happened that bloody night and prove that the boy was innocent. But Minato never expected the world wide known criminal to simply come back. What did that entail though? A threat or negotiation? In seconds of this sort of anxiety, he counted all encounters with the clan heir, all discussions between them, disagreements and secrets. Because he didn't _know _who he dealt with, a teen that was far more intelligent than his peers, far more talented and skilled and surprisingly, wanted peace, _or a young man, _that lived for his own goals and dreams, who became a criminal with a symbol of red cloud on his shroud.

But Itachi wasn't alone, Minato paid attention to another figure resting on his back, held by the teen. The head of the blonde girl, or boy, was on Itachi's shoulder, so he couldn't see the face.

At last, Minato directed his stare at his guest and their eyes locked in a silent conversation, in a silent exchange that let them gauge how much changed in the time that passed.

Their gazes and postures were sharper.

Mistrust, caution and suspicion were where they weren't before. A tension that existed just a little in the past when they met years ago multiplied, _grew _till it was enormous. And yet, the cause of this was never in between them. Maybe, it was a reason Itachi came back.

"Hello Itachi." Minato spoke. "It's been a long time."

The missing nin narrowed his eyes in unknown emotion. "Yes, it was." he agreed and continued. "I came to seek protection."

If Minato was baffled by that, he didn't show it. After all, he didn't know what Itachi wanted protection from, though one could argue who truly needed safety, Itachi or people surrounding him.

"You must admit that such request is strange, coming from you..." Before the Hokage could finish, the teen interrupted him.

"I offer information on Akatsuki organization and its moves. My services to you as a shinobi of a highest class. And.." here he paused meaningfully, "I bring a person that has an affiliation with Akatsuki." Itachi looked to the side at the hidden face of a child on his shoulder. "His name is Shirushi, but you might know him by the name... Namikaze Naruto." He said bluntly, not caring about subtlety. The village leader did not seem to process the message immediately, so for a moment he stared at the teen without comprehending, and then, his face revealed shock and fear; he stepped away from the desk, walked around it and to the centre of the room; his hands started reaching for a figure on Itachi's back on their own volition.

The criminal made a slow step back, to keep the distance, and the hands of the blond man fell, trembling a bit. His breathing quickened and he started losing the grip on his emotions. The teen must have noticed it quite well, so he stared at the man sharply, forcing him to think first, and react later.

"If what you speak of is true," Minato licked his dry lips and gulped, unable to keep his indifferent appearance any longer, "then you have my personal word and promise, that I myself, shall protect you from whatever that you need protection from."

Itachi nodded curtly and raised his head higher. "For that, you need to seal mine and the boy's chakra signature first, Hokage-sama. Our enemy has an ability to follow us by tracing it."

The blond frowned but nodded. "All right, but, first, does he need any medical attention?" His expression towards the boy was full of concern, but Itachi just looked at the head on his shoulder will all the calm in the world, knowing that all the injuries that were there, cuts on Shirushi's face and hands and chakra exhaustion, were gone and of no matter.

"No."

Minato frowned even deeper. "Then, why is he unconscious?"

"Sleeping draft." The teen explained in the calm tone, which was a stark contrast to the nervous, worried and unsettled behaviour that emanated from the Hokage. Before Itachi could continue the older man hurriedly opened the door and spoke to whoever was outside.

"Bring the couch in here."

Itachi fought the urge to raise his brows or smile. It didn't matter who was there, this person's expression must've been dubious. At the meantime, Minato rushed to his desk and drawers, where he looked for brushes, scrolls, ink and a pot with mumblings under his breath. His actions were somewhat erratic, but it was understandable seeing as he just found out the identity of one of his guests.

The door opened in a hassle that started somewhere in the corridor, and a pair of shinobi, one of them was Kotetsu who probably waited by the door and listened in through the key hole, brought in the couch the Hokage asked for. It was left by the wall and Itachi did not wait long before placing the smaller body of the blond on the offered furniture. The pair of ninja hastily moved away at his proximity.

"Surround the office. Do not let anyone in." Minato ordered, not only to Kotetsu and Raido who were leaving, but to all other shinobi around on the floor that he was aware of. Deciding to act quickly, he pulled his chair away from the desk and unceremoniously pushed Itachi to sit. He didn't know who was after the pair, and when that someone, or something would come, so making sure they were safe was a priority. The nagging urge to turn and look at, touch, examine his son was so strong that he felt an irrational irritation toward the teen for not letting him near the blond boy a minute before. But that was just an urge and he could fight it. Itachi was not a kind of person to trick him like that, especially considering the fact that Minato would in a moment seal his chakra, which led to inability to use ninjutsu. And if it was true, and it most probably was, and his son was here, alive, and asleep in his office, then he owed this teen a lot. Not just appreciation, favour... or life. Minato felt like he owed this young man his loyalty.

Swiftly, quietly and with unbeaten precision, the Hokage drew a seal on the back of Itachi's neck, using their mixed blood and special, water resisting ink. With a bit of applied chakra, he successfully took the teen's ability to counter attack ninjutsu, and made sure no chakra sensor could detect him. The technique was not hard to apply, and was used on prisoners mostly, but in this situation, its use was truly recommended. Obviously, Itachi could have drawn this seal on the blond and himself before, to make sure they were not found, but if he did that, he would be also placing them both in the precarious situation, condition where they could not protect themselves sufficiently. Weighting the pros and cons of doing it before they reached the destination and risking being found, or _not _doing it before they reached destination and having a chance to fight back, Minato decided that Itachi made the right choice.

Next, Minato moved onto the still figure of a young boy on the couch. He sat by him reverently and examined his features. Most noticeable, long hair gathered in the ponytail, must have reached his hips in length. The slightly round face, nose and ears, in shape belonged to his mother. The shape of the lips and body, belonged to Minato. His eyes were closed, but Minato hoped that orbs behind those lids were still the same bright, sky blue. Similar to Itachi, the boy was clothed in grey pants, black sandals with warmers, black mesh shirt; but he also had a black cloak on, with wide sleeves and a hood. Tentatively, the man's hand reached for the boy's face and stroked the cheek.

"How do I know you're not lying to me? You brought a blonde boy, claiming he's my son, my lost hope, my thread to the past and the future, but it could also be a wicked joke, played with a man you may no longer respect." Minato asked, completely aware that he already believed that this was Naruto, but still conscious and sane enough to consider the risks.

"You don't, Hokage-sama." The teen did not rise from the chair, watching the older man from his position with concealed pity, sympathy and edge. "Before Orochimaru disappeared, though, he proved the boy was your son by comparing the samples of your DNA."

Unconcerned about Orochimaru's apparent disappearance, the village Leader gently turned the boy on his side to have access to the same place he will draw the seal on. With an inward disgust that he had to make a cut to withdraw the boy's blood and it wasn't something he was prepared for, Minato made sure to extract just a drop from Naruto's finger. Blissfully asleep, still in the dreamland, the boy did not twitch, and unknowingly, the man exhaled in relief. All this time, Itachi stayed quiet, somehow understanding that the man had a hard time coming to terms with new development. But soon, questions would start, and the teen wasn't sure how much he wanted to reveal.

...

Akatsuki HQ

It was a first time he saw Madara behave like this. Like a spoiled child that had his secret revealed without consent, or like an old man between the hard place and the wall, that had to make a decision that would change the world. Not a completely accurate description, but it was hard to be sure when in three days and nights the man spent in an empty hall, Madara muttered aloud no more than two sentences.

For the first and the second day, Nagato let him be, believing that after thinking things over- whatever led to such a state in the first place- Madara would be back to his usual self. But by the third night nothing's changed, so Nagato sighed deeply, and Deva Path entered the quiet, shadowed hall to confront the confused Uchiha.

That large room was rarely used, as members preferred their own private chambers, or met in the cave, by the statue. Still, it was here in case they, or some other shinobi Nagato ruled over, needed to gather for the meeting,... or simply for Madara to brood in silence.

He found him situated on the wide, wooden and uncomfortable chair, his elbow propped on the arm of it, his chin on the fisted hand. Unmasked pair of crimson eyes stared somewhere afar, seeing what could not be seen, but ignoring the world around. Old, wrinkled face was stern, contemplative, even sad. His clothing did not change in the time of his musings, so Nagato doubted the man ate, slept or took a shower. "You could've told me that the boy was a jinchuuriki." He said as he reached the chair from Madara's right side. "And though I would've had a hard time believing it, I still wouldn't have been so surprised." He examined Madara's closed expression, trying to understand how this man could pretend to love the boy so well. "The way you took care of him, trained and prepared for shinobi duties led me to conclusion that he could very well be yours by blood. ...With some slight mutation with a new doujutsu result." Exaggeration, yes, but here, Nagato tried to make a point.

The older of the two, who continued to stare into nowhere, stayed silent.

He didn't even change the pattern of his breathing.

If Deva Path reacted to Nagato's emotions to the nerve details, there would be a twitch of an eye. But as it was, the twitch belonged to the main body solely.

"Could you at least tell me why you're wasting time sitting on this old useless chair like it was your golden throne? ...Is there a wise thought on the tip of your tongue that you failed to catch?" maybe irritating the man could bring results, or insulting him.

A deep sigh, that spoke of tiredness, sadness and loneliness, was the only answer, and it rocked Nagato's world with endless meanings. Was it a sign of agreement, annoyance or the man just needed a bit of fresh air? Was it an intentional action or was it random and insignificant?

"Your silence is killing me."_And your brooding behaviour is contagious_. The rinnegan wielder sighed in a similar manner. His partner in plans was doing everything to get rid of him, or didn't do a thing to keep him in the hall.

The sort of absence on the man's face was highly disturbing.

Deva Path deftly made a step and straightened right in front of the man, hopefully blocking the vision of whatever the man was seeing. Shockingly, Madara simply ignored this change, like he truly wasn't all there. The crimson, empty gaze now settled on the chest of the orange haired body, successfully looking somewhere beyond the reality. Unsettled even more, Nagato mentally gulped.

"You know, if there's a problem you cannot solve, you can speak to me. I doubt it's something... stupid or irrelevant. Unless, it's personal?"_Are you dying? Have lost the sense of life all of a sudden? Or should I mention your son again? One whom all of Akatsuki members found to be lovable, adorable and witted._

The man was like a statue. Unmovable and unprovoked. Even Nagato could not brag about being that stoic. Was that a result of training or a personal trait? Truly intimidating manner of facing, well, anyone.

"You said that this woman, Nii, lived. Yesterday." Madara spoke in a low voice, in a precise moment Deva Path was ready to leave. He confirmed that he remembered what Nagato spoke of and when that happened, making sure to convey he was of a healthy state of mind.

Ignoring the subtle shiver that went down his spine, Nagato observed that the lost gaze, position in the chair and a breathing pattern, still did not change. The man just moved his lips. _And changed the topic._

"After extraction, that was accomplished without your participation," the tone was slightly bitter, "we believed that she would die like all others. But surprisingly, she's still alive, even if in a coma. There's a chance she will wake up."

The man hummed in response. Just a bit, his eyelids narrowed, but otherwise there was little change from before.

"Sasori studies it?" The question had no questioning tone, but Nagato still replied. If just to keep the conversation going.

"Yes."

Ten agonizing, silent seconds later, Madara still didn't move. "I need time to think."

_A clear allusion to dismissal. Aggravating, no sense making Jerk._"When you're done..." he left the sentence hanging, sending a message that disappearing was a bad idea and the man had better moved further. Then with purposeful steps, walked back from the hall, leaving Uchiha to his musings.

...

Said Uchiha spent three days thinking, _weighting, remembering_, and still had not come to a decision. He had no problem following and finding Itachi, despite numerous traps and misleading traces the young man left, ...even without moving from this place. Uchiha descendant used shadow clones to harden the task of spotting their real position, jumped into another realm, knowing or hoping that Madara could not follow, and stayed there for some time. And then, somehow made chakra emitting traps around the sand, fire and lightning countries, which after, rushed head on into the only village that Madara did not expect him to go to. Expected maybe, that his ancestor would appear on his way to stop him and take the blond away. But sitting in this wooden, ugly throne in solitude, Madara did not plan to move and run anywhere, at all.

Itachi of course, did not take it into account, it seemed. _Must've been so stressed over it._

Unbidden, in silence and dark of the hall, a small _smirk _formed on the man's face, as an answer to his silent thoughts, one, that he'd never show if he was in the company of others. Young, smart, loyal to the bone and righteous, justice serving man was amusing when he tried hard not to be. But the expression fell, when the gloomy thoughts circled his mind again. His boy was a jinchuuriki.

Since the very beginning. His imagined picture of things was a lie. An illusion that he believed and made others believe too. All the future, twisted and thick, that he created and prepared for his son was a lie, an empty dream. Because all care and love for the blonde child was not delusion, but true. And he couldn't treat him like every other demon vessel. Even the thought of hurting him with extraction and potentially killing him was like an awakening slap.

At the same time, Madara did not care that the boy had Namikaze blood. Somehow, knowing that he had Shirushi in his grasp since the start of the boy's life, made the man believe that there was no man to replace him. Shirushi knew who raised him and taught him, knew that there was a path Madara forged ahead of him, and even if it was a reason to leave, or to run, the blond also knew there was no escape. Unlike Itachi, who still had hope of moving out of Madara's clutches.

Therefore, it was not like he was in a hurry; the problem was that Madara _did not know _what he cared more about, the wellbeing of his son, or the possession of the Nine Tailed Fox. Because one was the opposite of the other, and he didn't see the way to have both.

...

With Shirushi

Sometimes when he was close to regain consciousness, there were blinks of blurred images, reddish sky, dried trees, feathers. Those feathers, in the air and in the wings of birds were dark but Shirushi couldn't be sure. One time, he thought that he glimpsed Itachi over him, but the sounds were distorted as the images, so again, he wasn't so sure.

All other senses were... numbed he could say. No feeling in limbs so he only assumed that his main position was on the ground with being carried from time to time. The sixth sense said that he was safe for the moment, even if in unknown environment, so Shiru did not panic. Trying to remember where and when all this started, his mind supplied the last scene in the kitchen of headquarters, but how it led to current state of things was still an unanswered question. Besides, he couldn't focus well enough to gather these thoughts. A little tornado of chaos twirled in his head, a work of some substance, some drug that put him to sleep, he supposed.

After another dose of that, he suspected that someone poured it down his throat for quite some time. That someone better not be his self appointed brother Itachi, because _that _led to unpleasant conclusions. Unable to fight the weakness of body and mind, Shirushi relented in the end and gave up fighting. He felt like he fell into the darkness where glimpses of the real world could not follow him and assumed that he might as well get a good sleep and rest for as long as he was forced to.

Images turned grey, dissipated, sounds became more distant than before, till there was none, and all other senses said that dreams were coming.

Still somehow, when all the senses said that he embraced the unconscious state, Shirushi was aware that he was capable of thinking. Jumbled, unorganized thoughts continued to form in his head and it started to worry the blond instead of confirming his mental capacities.

Unbidden, dull and distant still, came a memory of how he and Itachi sat at the table, at the noshery somewhere in Ame. People around them were a blur, coming and going, as they received their ordered dishes. In comfortable silence, tired after an intensive training session, both of them reached for the food calmly. Quiet chorus of 'itadakimasu', the snap of breaking chopsticks and a delighted sight from Shiru later, they prodded the fried fish with vegetables, in Itachi's case, and a bowl of noodles with pork in Shirushi's case. A sudden noise, like a growl of an animal caused the blond to look behind himself and then not finding any pet, around the place. There was no dog or any other animal that could be a source of the sound so he shrugged it off as a strange occurrence. The blond turned back to food, subtly slurped the ribbons, and made at least five gulps before Itachi placed the first piece of food in his mouth. ...It always looked like that. The older Uchiha was elegant, subtle, mannered and controlled to the bone. It suited Shirushi though, because in a time it took his older self proclaimed brother to eat his order, he managed to inhale several of bowls of his favourite cooking.

Now he stopped slurping when the noodles were half way in his mouth, because he had to focus on something else. It did not matter that he looked comical, or that some may see this picture as disgusting, 'cause Itachi, casually, as if he did it every day, placed some vegetables, one after another, on one of the additional plates.

Near the blond's side, of course.

Finally, when there were as much veggies as the boy ate in a week, the blond swallowed all up and not putting his sticks down, somehow still frozen in place, tried to pin the young man with a stare. "_What _are you doing?"

Unperturbed, and not in the least discouraged, Itachi calmly placed one more piece on the plate-Shirushi couldn't not notice the way his hand held the sticks, delicately and precisely_, what an uncommon manner_...-and then proceeded to pay attention to his own meal. After two bites, quiet and deliberate, surrounded by the aura of mischievousness, he spoke. "You need to eat more healthy food, more vegetables. You're growing, after all."

The boy grimaced, remembering that Konan had a habit of saying, and doing the same thing. He could not make a retort cause there was no argument, they were right. But he just didn't like healthy food, it seemed...

The old memory, that popped out of nowhere ,didn't suit the present reality at all, aside from the short thought about Itachi and how he fit in the picture of things. It slipped away, in the same manner it appeared, leaving Shirushi alone with his senseless, but partly conscious state. It was strange that of all things that granted awareness, his thought process survived and continued to be active when others failed.

He didn't know for how long that lasted, but at some point he became aware of hard surface under his fingertips. It was a strange feeling since as far as he remembered, all limbs that were supposed to move were immobile and any feeling on his skin left some time before.

Then miraculously, he heard sound, and it was like someone's breathing or hissing, or something in between. Strange indeed. It reminded of that brief growl from before. Sparkles here and there claimed that his vision was coming back too, and soon later revealed a familiar sight of crystals and rocks that covered the walls of the caves under the Tower in Ame.

Humming in wonder, the blond tried rising off the ground, and managed at the second attempt. Now that he was standing, though shakily, and stared at the view, he was completely sure that this was the same cave he visited before. There were the same arches that led to stairs and corridors, chilled by cold air of underground world. He could pinpoint which led to Sasori's secret room, and which led to Nagato.

The same hissing as before caught Shiru's ear and he turned around to find the source. Behind, at the sides and even farther by the walls, was no one. Blinking at the strange occurrence, again, but calm enough to avoid panic, the blond tilted his head, in an instinct of sorts, to listen to the sound. Then, pivoting on left foot he walked to the favourite corridor, that was supposed to lead to the main stairs of Tower. Familiar stones, steps and smell made him believe that he was back home.

A cold, bluish and greyish corridor though, quite quickly changed into warm brown and yellow, with intricate ornaments, coded words and symbolic images, that heavily reminded of catacombs and abandoned underground ruins of the summoning realm.

Shirushi told himself that he _almost _believed he was home.

At last, seeing the light at the end of the way, the blond sighed and slumped his shoulders. The loud breathing and hissing was accompanied by clanks now, but Shirushi ignored it and walked through the archway to the biggest hall he ever saw. The symbols and images on the wall told a different story here, but it wasn't what held attention of the boy. At the centre of the room was the wall of black bars, and behind it, held down by chains, the growling and hissing Kitsune. After visiting that female jinchuuriki he was tired of comments that resounded in his mind and displeased behaviour of the Fox, so he blocked the mental connection and tied the demon with the recently found trick.

The sight of the giant demonic fox left the blond unperturbed, and he walked closer while looking around. "Looks like my imagination and intricacies of mind go further than this room."

More of growling followed this statement. Purple orbs rolled as Shirushi passed the bars that looked like they were metallic, but the glow of energy betrayed the material, and he was sure that it was made of chakra, his mental view of things and something else. The rods were placed so wide apart that he could easily walk in between the two. The loud clank directed his attention back to the demon and chains that surrounded his body, so tightly, that the fox could not open his mouth to speak. Even his long ears were included in the knots, which gave an impression of the fox being defeated.

The blond stepped to the side of his tenant and pitifully glanced at the large, red eye. It was so big that Shiru estimated it was half of his height, in size. How did the demon feel, cramped in this enormous cage that truthfully was still too small for the beast? If Kyuubi rose to his full height... It was actually good that he was force stuck to the ground. "I know you think I shouldn't have jumped in the line of fire like I did. But I'd have done it anyway. And I am actually thankful that you lend me your chakra. It protected me and my father. Even if at the moment you protected yourself for the most part. "

The red eye narrowed and the strange sounds from the throat and jaws of the demon started again. "Yes, I know you'd rather see him dead. I could not let that happen though, which put us in position we're in. I... accepted the consequences. But, if after I release you from these bindings, all I hear, is whining, snapping, bitching and barking, I shall think twice before lifting those off again."

The red eye narrowed even more, but disturbing sounds ceased to come out. As a result, Shirushi nodded and chains released the demon Lord. Clearly, he was annoyed, if fluctuations in his chakra were anything to go by.

**"As I mentioned before, your inevitable end at the hands of your caretaker is of no concern for me. My existence shall not be threatened. Unlike your pitiful life that depends on how soon others wish to dispose of your body, or how hard your protectors shelter you."**

The blond rolled his eyes at the arrogance that the demon displayed. It was nothing new, so it became boring.

Kyuubi stretched a bit, as much as he could in the space he was allowed, then settled down, lying with his head on the paws and tails spread around. One of those tails in particular landed close to the blond, and staring at the orange, fluffy fur that shone with red chakra and was almost inviting, Shiru didn't fight the urge to stroke it, as it was within the reach of his right hand. He did not care that this was practically a limb of the beast he wasn't in the best of terms with, but how could he resist orange?

The confused emotion joined the annoyed one in the spectre of chakra, but it was all the outward reaction the blond could see. Otherwise, his tenant did not display any refusal to be petted.

"It's not like I care either." He said, fully believing those words. Because he truly did not care. What was his purpose? He grew up knowing that he lived to protect his father, to make him proud. So then, if his father wanted to have the demon Lord extracted, then he'd most probably agree without a fight. Shiru tilted his head and grimaced.

Not that living for that purpose was nice either. Who'd want to die in pain when you're torn apart, and something greater than you is taken from your body? Not a pleasant end of life. And on the side note, he did not want his father knowing of his status as a vessel, and would have rather died with the secret. He was... embarrassed of this fact. He was aware that he was a coward. But then again, all was out of his control now, and fighting, admitting, even confessing was somewhat pointless. And he'd rather not think about how he _didn't _want to die, even though he was ready. Contradictions of his own emotions and wishes were at times downright scary.

The Fox saw the thoughtful expression on the face of the child that entertained him on daily basis and wondered if days of peace were over. **"You know what he will do once he gathers all of us."**

Still petting the tail, Shirushi glanced at the face of the beast, abandoning his own marred expression. For once, wide grin full of malice was abandoned too, and Kyuubi looked at that moment more sane than ever.

"Form the ten tailed monster that once destroyed this world and created it again? I wonder if he comprehends how hard it will be to control it."

In response the Demon Lord finally grinned, showing off the white and sharp teeth**."He clearly doesn't. And if I was in your place, I'd use it to my advantage."**

The blond knew that there was a deeper meaning to those words, like a hint to use his own knowledge against his father's and escape. What knowledge did he have that Madara didn't? That the Ten tailed beast spirit was locked away in the statue that consumed the demons? That Shinigami existed and could give one powers not beyond imagination? Or that he himself could control the tailed demons with these chains but did not know what kind of skill he gained to use against the Ten tailed one? All of this was limited to his own use and knowledge, because he could not speak of the family contract, could not reveal where his power came from.

But he could use it. Learn to utilize it. _What for, though_? Or whom for? His father? Initially, he wanted this skill, that took form of chains, to protect himself from Kyuubi, and the one against a greater demon, that he didn't know the form of yet, was an afterthought.

How to use it to advantage? How to act now, when he was drugged, maybe even kidnapped?

"Everything's messed up." He said, still immersed in his chaotic thoughts. Maybe his mind wasn't as clear as he hoped it was. A sad smile found its way on his face.

The Demon Lord continued to grin.

* * *

Coming back to reality was like forcing one's way through the surface of water.

From under the ocean.

It was like landing in a different world, but familiar world. Careful to avoid hurting his eyes with a too bright light, Shirushi squinted.

Ceiling, texture of the furniture, he was on the couch? And then above him, a figure of the man. Have they met before? Blond hair, sky blue, concerned or hopeful eyes. _Dark _blue, sharp but docile chakra spoke of a powerful individual.

He definitely saw this man somewhere before. _Not personally, but still_. Shiru thought as he shut his eyes tightly.

End of chapter 15


	16. Father, Part I

Edition by** Warrior of Sangre**

Chapter 16

Father

Part I

* * *

_We've been living life, inside a bubble._

* * *

Coming back to reality was like forcing one's way through the surface of water.

From under the ocean.

It was like landing in a different world, but familiar world. Careful to avoid hurting his eyes with a too bright light, Shirushi squinted.

Ceiling, texture of the furniture, he was on the couch? And then a figure of the man. Have they met before? Blond hair, sky blue, concerned or hopeful eyes. Dark blue, sharp but docile chakra spoke of a powerful individual.

He definitely saw this man somewhere before. _Not personally, but still_. Shiru thought as he shut his eyes tightly, attempting to sober up his sluggish mind. A quick inspection of senses all over his body confirmed that he was not restrained and not injured, but not for a moment did he believe that running could be easy. First though, he had to know what he'd be running from. Opening his eyes again, slowly, the boy found the same man he glimpsed before, now openly gazing at him. Shirushi was startled to remember what was familiar about this person, and just a bit, his eyes widened in surprise, then, narrowed to slits in contemplation.

Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. The most prominent shinobi of the elemental nations in the present time. Said to be a genius, a great Leader and a very dangerous adversary. Shirushi did not think that they would meet this soon. He thought that their encounter had to be a planned event, one he was prepared for. Not like this. Sudden, edgy, unarranged, without a sketch. How the hell was he supposed to deal with that?

The man cocked his head to the side, studying his eyes with a frown. As he did that, Shirushi glanced at his surroundings and noted that they were in a wide drawing room, with furniture placed around in a strange, a bit chaotic pattern that suggested it wasn't used recently for its main purpose. And then, a dim flash of chakra on the left side, he darted his look there and saw the person that was responsible for this turn of events. Sharp glare was not as satisfying as a kunai thrown in that direction but he had to settle for calm reactions, lest the present pair of shinobi would decide to tie him down.

Itachi, clad in his usual attire without a cloak, was sitting in the comfortable, soft armchair, with an empty tray on the low table in front of him. He had a meal recently, the boy surmised, but looked to be tired. Perhaps he didn't sleep for quite some time. The accusing glare did not make him flinch or react in any way. His indifferent expression was stony as it was most of the time, and his currents of chakra said he was resigned to his or their fate. How _thoughtful _of him to decide their future without Shirushi's input and involvement.

The glare intensified. "You drugged me." The boy bared his teeth, speaking in a low, venomous tone as he gritted them. He remembered the inconspicuous gesture of opening the lid of his bowl with ramen, one that did not gather his attention much, as it was casual and seemingly non consequential, but now that he focused on the last parts of his memories, it was the only chance and opening Itachi had to drug or poison him. The dark haired traitor predicted his response to questions and entered the kitchen with a plan of action ready to be executed. All the trust Shirushi had in him prevented him from suspecting anything, and now that trust diminished till there was a faint trace left.

"Itachi protected you, and personally, I don't mind that he did not ask for permission." The blonde man spoke, taking the boy's attention away from his Uchiha brother. On the man's face was a subtle, nervous smile. Shiru looked him over from head to toes, noting how close the man was sitting, next to him, on the couch he occupied while sleeping.

"Could have consulted me. Maybe I don't want to run away?" He bit back. Seriously, he did not care about the man's opinion.

"You'd rather die?" Minato asked with an accusing tone behind the disbelief and anger.

The boy grimaced and averted his eyes. No, he didn't want to die, that much he established while locked in his mind. But running to his biological father for shelter wasn't his idea of survival either. Not like he had an alternative route in mind, but still, being dragged in here by Itachi wasn't something he was ready for.

"We did not have many options. I cannot trust your father to protect your life when your death is subsequent to his goal of obtaining the fox. ...You may get mad at me, Shirushi, I took that into account." The former anbu informed the boy in a levelled, quiet voice.

At the word father, the Yondaime visibly cringed. That amused the younger blond and his grimace dissolved. He sighed and rose into the sitting position. Getting the gazes of the present pair of Leaf shinobi he blinked and asked."And now what?" They did not expect him to lead the show, did they? He was too lost at the moment to decide if he was angry, scared, determined to run or willing to stay.

"Now, we get to know each other, of course!" Minato exclaimed with a wide, happy smile.

"Of course." The boy muttered in reply and cringed at the half false cheerfulness.

"Without a doubt you recognized me, but let me introduce myself anyway. Namikaze Minato, the current Hokage. I am also your father." He paused to see the boy's reaction to that, but Shiru just gave him a deadpan glance. "Your first father." Minato clarified and stifling the urge to roll his eyes the boy gave him the stare of boredom. Seeing that, the man realized that his confession caused no surprise and continued quietly. "You may call me dad, if you want to," here the man rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, but hurried to continue, "or Minato... just, don't add any san or sama in there, that would be just weird."

Shirushi frowned. "Both of the options are quite weird for me to follow as well, _sir_, but I think I'll settle for your first name. ...You may address me with my first name too." He added the last well aware that the man would do so anyway.

"Right." The man agreed and reached for the piece of paper on the low table. "I interrogated Itachi about some details, to be prepared." He held the sheet in his hands and the boy noted from the corner of his eye that Itachi closed his eyes as if to hold in the temper and suffer in silence. "Your... father named you Uchiha Shirushi. It's not like I expected him to call you Namikaze Naruto, but that definitely clashes with my knowledge..."

"If you think that I will let you call me fishcake then I'm afraid you let your imagination run wild." The boy interrupted him, now having an idea what sort of list the man held in his hands. No surprise that Itachi felt embarrassed, frustrated, ashamed and annoyed all in different proportions at the same time. Watching the man doing this sort of thing was ridiculous, but it definitely showed how serious he was.

"Ok, ok!" Minato held his hands up in a placating manner. "No need to get so defensive or angry, he-he..." He grinned and then cleared his throat. "A-hem, now that the introductions are made, is there anything immediate you need? Have a meal or use bathroom, perhaps?"

The boy blinked and looked at himself questioningly, then frowned, coming to conclusion that his stomach was empty and he did not smell fresh either. For how long was he unconscious, really? Thankfully, his cloak was still on his person, not discarded somewhere like Itachi's appeared to be. "I'd soak in a bathtub and eat a mountain of food, unhealthy and healthy. Preferably in that order." He chose to say, looking forward to getting clean the most, because he had an inkling about where Itachi took and kept him.

The man stood with a soft, knowing smile. "Then bath and food it is."

Itachi stood as well, and Shirushi frowned at his so called saviour. There was something wrong with his chakra pathways. In the next moment though, his attention was directed to stiff, sleepy limbs that did not want to obey. A grimace he made must've spoke for him, because Minato rushed to help him stand, and was much too tender while doing so, in the boy's opinion. He didn't like it, so he shrugged the man's arms off. "I'm fine. My body didn't wake yet, it seems." To make a point, Shiru pinched Itachi with a glare, full of coming retribution.

"You'll be better when you walk for a bit and eat something." The Yondaime spoke softly, looking like he wanted to reassure the boy but in reality very much concerned himself. He wasn't comfortable with letting Shirushi stand on his own, but wasn't sure if he could touch him. He duly noted that the boy rejected his help, and touch as a result, as well. "We'll go to my house, both of you will stay at my place, for obvious reasons."

Too lost at the moment to refuse or start any argument for argument's sake, Shirushi nodded and followed the man when they walked out the strange room. Itachi was behind him, calm as ever, and the boy took the chance to study their surroundings by focusing his sight.

A group of masked shinobi following them from the shadows shouldn't have surprised him, because obviously, as the pair of criminal ninja they could not be trusted to stay alone in the room with the village leader, but it did. There was the whole squad on ready to intervene in case any of the guests showed hostility. It irked the blonde boy but he found that his _other _worry grew as realizations were slowly dawning on his sobering mind.

...

As Shiru sank in the bathtub, he analyzed the house he found himself in. It was quite large for the man who seemingly lived alone, bare for someone who habituated it for quite some time, and definitely too quiet and too simple to be the home of the man that he met two hours ago. Thankful that Minato understood the amount of discomfort that would follow if he joined him, the boy relaxed as much as he could in the company of his betrayer, saviour, brother, friend and enemy. Because even if Minato respected his need to have private time and bubble, he did not trust him to stay alone, and decided that Itachi needed the bath as much as his son, and would be a supervising, comfortable company.

The steam rose above the water lazily and captivated Shirushi's attention. He'd rather observe it curl than look at his companion that was so calm and collected that it felt like nothing changed in between them. He could barely bear the betrayal, and only the awareness that Itachi did this for his safety kept him from sinking his claws into that stoic body. What else did Itachi do? What else will he do? It may seem that his loyalties lie with the Yondaime, but Shiru wasn't so sure. As usual, this young man was the only person he could not puzzle out. He could not even be sure that Itachi protected him, because the man's priorities were unknown. Aggravating. He dropped under the surface and rose. Extremely heavy, his wet mane was a pleasant weight on his head. "Wash my hair." He muttered a soft command, closed his eyes and turned his back to the bath companion. He did not see the soft smile that adorned Itachi's face in response, but felt the skilled hands rub his head and work the thick strands. A rosemary scent of shampoo soothed his worries somewhat, freshened the mop he called hair and showed Itachi's continued willingness to touch those yellow strands. Only his father was better at that job.

Did Madara feel disgust, now that he knew he raised the child of Namikaze? Did he feel stupid, now that he knew the Kyuubi was under his nose all this time? Did he feel sorry, now that he knew he would have to kill his son in order to obtain the fox?

...

In the contrast to the beaming smile Minato sported while in presence of guests, his serious exterior in an empty drawing room revealed his true outlook at things; and while his guests were busy, he found a moment for himself to gather his bearings and prepare for events that were sure to come.

_Self-sufficient, independent, stubborn, arrogant, dangerous, secretive, driven, fast, smart, disobedient, _those were just words that described his son, words he written from the account Itachi gave him about the boy. But he was not prepared to face the grown, childish adult that was in a body of the child. He was not prepared to face a shinobi. In his mind, Naruto was a young, happy boy that had dreams, ambitions, streak of luck, friends and mischievous nature, just like his father was years ago. It had never occurred to him that the blonde boy he was expecting to see could be someone as skilled and dangerous as Itachi himself, and as independent as a rebelling teenager. Any other twelve year old would be lost if found himself kidnapped and brought to unknown place under the care and protection of a stranger, any other twelve year old would depend on Itachi, the older person he knew and trusted, to make decisions and keep him safe. But Naruto practically ignored Minato and loathed Itachi's involvement in this situation. If he could, he would probably escape and leave Itachi behind. It was obvious to Minato that the boy was not afraid, of anything, really. The mention of dying might've caused a distaste, but certainly did not make him tremble. Making any sort of impression on such a child was near impossible.

The man sighed, and repeated a mantra in his head. 'No worries, he's here, he's alive, I can do it, I can keep him here.'

Minato rubbed his face with both hands. "It's no imagination, you just have to stay calm." He whispered to himself.

The man went to his bedroom to change into casual clothing and prayed that he would not waste the chance he'd been given. He gave up hope to ever find his child, and now that Naruto was here he felt like the curse was lifted. At last, maybe he could fix the mistakes of the past.

...

At the doors of the bathroom someone prepared attires for them to choose from. There were pyjama suits, dressing gowns, and even a set of dark blue shinobi uniform for Itachi. The young man ignored it, though, and unsealed his own clothes from the scroll that was kept in his pouch. As usual, it was all black and grey. After getting dressed, he looked like he did not change at all. The difference was the lack of sandals and appearance of socks. Shirushi on the other hand, chose to get comfortable, ignoring his own sealed sets that were used for travelling and emergency. But just to show how far Minato was from keeping him, he covered himself in black. Black set of silk, and black gown, thrown over loose, with a thin belt to keep the sides together. Shiru didn't like white colour, and hoped his emphasis would be noted.

A heavy towel on his head did not stop him from exploring the walls as they walked to the dining room. Minato said he'd be waiting for them with food prepared. The boy was awfully glad the man did not join them, because simply imagining his presence in the bathtub caused the shivers of awkwardness and weirdness to wreck Shirushi's equilibrium, if a mere thought could do so, what the reality would feel like? Better faint and avoid the possibility to find out.

The walls were empty for the most part, but they stumbled upon a portrait of the older, auburn haired woman that couldn't have been Minato's relative, because her features were quite different. She made an impression of a powerful individual and Shiru wondered what sort of connection she had with Minato. Itachi did not comment on Shiru's curiosity, and did not stop to study to image they passed, but when they reached the image of Minato with a red haired woman in the hall, the young man stopped and waited for the boy to have an eyeful.

Unlike the woman in the previous image, this one was young and one immediately, and correctly would assume that she was Minato's spouse. They looked nice together, happy. In embrace. It was strange to realize that at the current moment she was not by the man's side.

Despite him being the mirror image of Minato, Shirushi quickly came to conclusion that this woman was his real mother.

The shape of her eyes, nose and face was much present in him. And she had glorious, magnificent mane of reddish, orange hair. Might be the reason he loved orange colour no matter where and no matter how. He didn't even mind it on Kyuubi's fur, and on the contrary, he believed it made him like the fox lord more than he was supposed to.

Seeing her, he regretted that he took after his father in looks. He'd rather resemble her more.

It was disconcerting to find that he'd never meet her.

What was she like? Did she really die giving birth to him, as the official story said? Did she give him up for the sealing or did she try protect him from Minato's plan? Somehow, he could not imagine that she willingly gave her baby for the procedure, even if it meant saving the village. He knew it was silly to make a guess when he didn't know her, but he wanted to believe that she loved him more than the village.

Itachi was quiet while he watched, not disrupting the moment. He too, knew who the woman by Minato was.

The boy mentally scowled, deciding that it was unfair that Minato lived and she died. He turned and entered the dining room, which was extremely bare, save for the large table with piles of food and empty chairs. The woman of middle age, average chakra reserves and unassuming exterior was busy placing everything in the perfect positions and fixing the details. She looked up noticing them and smiling in a warm, shy way, made a slight bow before leaving quickly.

Like a shadow, Minato was inconspicuous by the window until he turned around to grace his guests with a welcoming smile. It quivered at all of the black that stood before him, though. But he did not lose composure and took it in stride, asking the pair to join him at the table.

As the boy, he opted to be comfortable in the moment of their shared, first dinner and was clothed in white socks, white loose pants and dark blue, long sleeved shirt. They did not comment on their looks and the pair of guests ignored the brief presence of the woman that obviously prepared the meal. In silence, tense, they took the seats on sides of Minato, who as the host was at the head of the table.

As none of them wanted to make the air heavier than it already was, they did not mention aloud anything other than food for the first minutes that seemed to draw. It was obvious that also none of them wanted to delve into serious matters at all, but Minato found it terrible that he was cowering at the thought of exchanging words with his own son. He felt stupid with pretending to be a good host for a pair of guests, as if he didn't know them and they didn't plan to stay. He cleared his throat before speaking. "Are there any topics you wish to discuss with me, questions you'd like to ask, gentlemen?" He addressed them formally, but a pause before honorific made his sentence light and carefree. He looked at Itachi and Naruto, no, Shirushi, both, hoping that one of them would accept his strategy, or challenge depending on how they took it, and move out of the closed shell.

Shirushi was pleasantly engulfing the calories, choosing the saltiest and sweetest dishes, letting the pointless comments come out of his lips and get in one ear to fly out of the other. That sort of behaviour was safe for them and he was actually glad Minato waited with big topics, though he wasn't sure what to expect from the man. Surely if he was the Hokage he knew how to be subtle.

And he was, as well as brave. For several minutes the blonde boy watched him gather wits and move gears in his brain, before at last, _the man grew a backbone_and started asking questions. Subtle, of course. The best way to start is to offer the choice of subject matter for conversation to the guest that would be inclined to agree. Because, how can you _not_want to discuss anything with _the_Yondaime? It's just a polite thing to do, you don't have to speak of anything that bothers you. True, but smart and skilled people can manipulate the conversation so that it leads to the topic they desire to touch the most. Without a doubt, Minato was that kind of man.

And to stir him from his comfortable position, Shirushi accepted the challenge and calmly voiced the first difficult topic that came to mind. "Yes, actually." He started by giving the man an inquiring tilt of the head that threatened to make the turbaned towel slid off his hair. "I saw the portrait of you with a woman, on the way here. She was my mother, correct?"

For a second Minato's eyes widened in surprise at the boy's question, but then he became all soft and radiated with sadness and love. Even Itachi could see the change in the man's posture. "Ah, Kushina..." He looked down to avoid displaying too much. "Yes, she was. ...The most beautiful woman on earth. I... She.." He frowned, unable to put his thoughts into words.

"She died. How?" The boy asked, continuing to eat the food calmly, while Minato stopped using his hands and turned troubled and uncertain. Itachi observed them quietly, but although his motions were slow, elegant and quiet, it looked like he did not plan to stop eating because of the talk. If he became still, Minato and Shirushi would note it, and it would be received as the willingness to join or react to the topic.

"She died giving birth to you." The man said, locking gazes with the boy briefly.

The tension in the air grew anew, making the silence seem empty and ominous. Minato looked to be searching for right words to describe something, not able to voice any of it, while Shiru already came to conclusion that the man did not plan to tell him the truth complete. It was accurate that she died the day he was born, but circumstances were quite important, details Minato preferred to stay quiet about.

"Just like that?" the boy prompted, scowl forming and motions becoming sharper.

"I failed to protect her. To insure that childbirth would go smoothly." The man admitted quietly, now lost in reminiscence.

Taken aback by his words, Shirushi stopped eating and placed the cutlery down. He took a good look at the man and could read the regret in him. But it confused him. "_You_were the one responsible for delivery? What about the medics?"

Minato looked up. His emotions behind the hard wall. "_They_performed their tasks correctly."

In a staring match between the blue and violet, Itachi glanced from one blond to the other, drinking cooling, green tea.

Understanding that the man openly declared himself guilty, Shirushi found it hard to believe him. In his mind, Minato had to have made some grave mistake or hurt the woman deliberately, for his actions to lead to her death. But as there were no details given, he decided to not pursue the matter at the moment, but go back to it later. "Whatever you say." His tone was closing the issue, but also revealing that it was meant to be a sarcastic remark.

"I will tell you everything you wish to know of her as a person." Minato tried, unwilling to claim he would reveal everything but yielding somewhat and offering what he could.

"No need to, I'm not really that much interested." The boy replied, not ready to learn something that clashed with his imagination about the woman. What if he found out that she always sided with Minato? What if she agreed, willingly for her son to become the vessel? He'd feel like he was a thing that was used without consequences. Yes, without taking into account consequences, after all, Kushina died giving birth, and Minato wholeheartedly believed that he'd die performing the sealing ritual. None of them would be responsible for what his life was after that.

Minato frowned at the boy's answer, baffled. "You're not? Oh..."

"I will never meet her anyway." Shiru spoke sourly.

"But you met me. You still have me, as a parent. You always had." The man broke in, terrified that his son did not care.

"Yes, I have a reminder."

At this point, Itachi was leaning back in the chair, strangely an absent witness to exchange, but ready to intervene, however unreal the possibility of it was.

Minato lost the battle but he could not give up in the war that haven't even started. He had his son back, yes, but bringing Naruto home was nothing in comparison to making him willing to stay. "I wanted you to find out hearing it from me." He confessed, sure that simplifying the matters would not help. "Itachi warned me about your awareness of the demon fox, and apparently you knew of it before your..._father _did. A very interesting turn of events, true, though, I care far _more _about _your _stance and point of view regarding this." He leaned back in the chair, suddenly looking older than a moment ago. "...I... I wasn't there to guide you and... tell you of things... and I'm not sure... how you take that information. If we don't deal with it now, clear the air and be honest, then whatever understanding we may come to will be too fragile."

Shirushi noted that the man did not beat around the bush and was as sincere as possible. He could practically see how he shook inside with nerves and hesitation. Fighting him in any manner now seemed too cruel, and lying pointless.

Itachi placed him in a tough position by bringing him here. The former anbu could reveal truths to the Hokage disregarding Shirushi's secrets, and it looked like he never fully became an outlaw. And even then, the boy's own view of things would not let him deny the man a bit of social contact with the son he haven't seen since the day of birth.

Didn't mean he had to be _nice _about it.

"Well, you certainly did not ask me for permission."A large dose of coldness in the voice, accusation and obvious bitterness, that should do it.

The Yondaime nodded in understanding; the resolved smile slightly formed on his face. "If you let me make it up to you, I'll do my best."

"You may start with taking off this little lock you placed on the back of my neck."

The man started, opened and closed his mouth like a fish, unable to process the words and reply at the same time.

"Thought I wouldn't notice? Itachi may be eager to seal his chakra but I'd rather have it than depend on someone else to use it for me." Shirushi informed him.

Itachi did not look surprised at all, but Minato did not pay attention to that. He could only wager that the boy tried to use ninjutsu for some reason, and found that he couldn't. But how could he know that the seal was on the back of the neck? Lifted Itachi's hair and inspected his nape?

The Hokage shook his head and visibly back to his senses, answered at last. "I will have to deny your request. For two reasons, Naruto," the boy interrupted him by quietly correcting the use of the name to 'Shirushi', "sigh, Shirushi, the first is the fact that Madara may trace you by signature, and the second is the high probability you will try to escape."

"You don't think me capable regardless of that handicap?" The boy inquired rising from his seat. The tone was innocent but revealed confidence the man was not prepared for. He coughed to mask conflicting emotions of surprise, amusement, doubt and pride. That of course, did not stop the boy from perceiving those. Minato clearly did not believe that the boy was skilled enough to escape.

"No, it's not that. But, restrictions might make you think twice, hinder you to make it easier to stop you from leaving."

Shirushi did plan to make him think otherwise.

A slight pause later, in which they felt that for the moment their conversation was over, the blonds exchanged meaningful glances and the boy stepped away from the table with a grimace. "I've lost appetite."

He breathed in, and simply walked to the doors, intent to leave the man's presence, because he felt forced, imprisoned and pressured.

"The house is surrounded by two squads of anbu guards. With orders to both protect you and intercept you if you try to run." The man informed him before the boy disappeared behind the door. Unnecessarily, because Shirushi knew all of that and there wasn't anything the man could surprise him with.

"Don't worry, I'm in no mood to try yet." He replied, to himself, mostly, but suspected Minato heard him anyway. Ignoring that bit, though, and eager to increase the distance between them he entered the corridors of the house with intention of looking around and making a personal tour without anyone towering over him. It was more dignified than pacing, an action that usually eased his nerves, something he took from his father.

The walk was quickly becoming boring, though, because the house was large and mostly empty, save for select decorations. He noted there was a training room with mats softening the floor, weapons on the walls and variety of targets; he stumbled upon the room used for calligraphy, with mountains and shelves of scrolls on one side, inks, bowls and brushes on the other, with a wide table and space of the floor in between. The man had a passion for sealing and studying its art, he concluded.

The library was on the first floor as well, but Shiru suspected that it wasn't the main one. He believed that another library had to be somewhere else in the building, with the scripts of higher value. This one was too boring and too nice to be a real thing, even if it had several interesting books.

His stroll led him to the grounds, a small garden that was well cared for, doubtfully by Minato himself. A small pond with lilies, a miniature dock and pretty bushes felt like paradise after the tense evening in distrustful company. It was getting dark, the air was clear and kept getting colder. He knew he could not walk around for ages, and had to show himself in the house again, but he hesitated much and his legs were heavy like stones while moving, as if they got the signal that he wanted to face the pair of leaf ninja as late as possible. But he was no coward, and reached the entrance despite the fact that he was slower than a slug. His senses said that the pair was upstairs, and indeed, Minato was in the corridor he passed in his explorations, waiting for him patiently.

A further examination of his surroundings confirmed that Itachi was in one of the rooms, probably designed for the guests. The young man was exhausted and he wouldn't be surprised if he slept on ignoring any interruption.

Sooner rather than later, Minato was giving a soft smile, silently inviting him into the room he chose for him.

Softly, with barely any sound, the door opened and Minato revealed a room. He did not enter, just stood by the doorframe and waited for his son to step in before him.

The boy immediately frowned when he had the first sight of it, his body stiff. There were many pictures and scenarios he imagined when the man said that he would show him his room, because he heard the _clear _truth that he _had _a room in the house he visited for the first time. It was a bit weird but he decided that possibly the room was designed for him before his birth and Minato never changed it. What state it was in was a curious thing, therefore he followed the man expecting to see a crib and light blue or pink walls with fairies.

It was a surprise that there was none of it.

He quickly noted the bed on the left side, in a perfect size to suit the boy of ten to thirteen or fourteen years old. Frame was made of light wood, and there was nothing childish or funny about it, just like a growing boy could wish it to be. A table for studying and a bookshelf were of the same wood, and he could see academy material, additional books about history, wars, tactics, chakra affinity and other curious topics he'd like to take a look at. He entered the room almost absently and his gaze fell on the wooden katana on the wall. It was obviously made for a beginner, but the shape was perfect and elegant, and the handle polished and decorated to give it a serious look. A pretty cord with several colourful beads was like a magnet gathering all the attention. Beside that interesting object were ninja knives, real ones, completely new and shiny, battle ready. Something at that moment stung in Shirushi's chest. He wasn't stupid, it was painfully obvious that these weapons were presents. The knives were bought but never used, the wooden sword belonged to someone, maybe the man himself, but it was well cared for, and had, dare he say it, sentimental and almost spiritual worth. And the books and scrolls he took notice of? Likewise. He slowly moved his eyes to the writings on the wall, beside the door. It was a list of shinobi main rules, laws, part of code and even a pair of quotes, written in black, elegantly, to decorate and to remind. Half serious half funny part of design useful for cheating. He read several lines and felt a smile unbidden form on his face. There was no window in the room, but large, double doors made of glass that led to balcony. The curtains shifted in the lazy wind and the boy pulled them aside gently to see quite a large space in there, and a hammock hanging just a bit to the side to leave a bit of space for something or, someone else. A tear could make a trip down his face because the colour of that ridiculously funny, welcomed and perfect hammock was almost orange. It was yellowish, but ALMOST orange. Minato was years and miles away, but somehow that did not stop him from being so close.

Shirushi stoned his face till it was ready for battle and turned around. He saw the yellow haired man leaning on the doorframe. He did not enter the room, just stopped there and watched as the boy moved around and inspected the place with his eyes. Feeling exposed all of the sudden, Shiru moved back to the centre of the room and faced the man, trying to hide how disturbed or even pleased, he was. "I expected something else."

A strange, loving smile that Minato sported at that made the Hokage look younger. It unsettled the boy how much he resembled his biological father in looks. The same hair, skin, build and even expressions. If anyone saw them standing together side by side, that person would have no doubt that they were related. The thought of it was scary.

"I know. You thought that this room was suited for a toddler." Minato laughed a bit, and Shiru could not stop a tiny laugh escaping him as well. He stifled it as much as he could though, because he was certain he needed to be wary.

"I came here too often not to realize that my son was growing, and that if he entered the room that was prepared for an infant, lot of indignation was sure to follow. ...Children are quite proud of their age, be it four or ten years. You're twelve now, surely you believe yourself to be an adult, not a kid. You would not accept toys." Minato spoke in a careful tone, not sure if he was completely right, but confident he was close. Seeing the equally careful nod in reply to his reasoning, the man decided to continue. "Of course, as years went by, my hopes were deflating, but I could not stop, even for my sanity's sake."

The boy acknowledged the man's admission with a subtle raise of the head and another glance over the room. The pause and silence were about to get awkward when the man spoke again, so quietly that Shiru thought it was a whisper. "Do you like it?"

"I'd be lying if I said no." He answered as his eyes settled on the knives and katana again. He did not fight the pull and knew that Minato would give him details without asking.

The man moved from his position in the doorway at last, passed the boy and slowly approached the wall. He carefully took the knives off the wall. They were no twins, one was smaller, shorter, heavier, black, designed to be hidden inside of a boot. One seal was engraved on the edge of it and on the sheath, the same was on the other knife. It was longer, good to have attached on the belt or thigh. The sheath was secure, plain black, not shiny so that it did not attract attention, the handle was carved from a bone, unknown origin, and there was silver. It was elegant, had character.

"Your graduation gifts." The man clarified, handing them to Shirushi. The boy already glimpsed most of the details, but could not deny that he wanted to touch the objects as well. He hoped that his gesture was not reverent as he took the items, but it was just hope. They were pleasantly heavy in his hands, and the awareness that these tools were waiting for him made him feel strange, made him feel something new.

"I think it's not the best time to note that you did not pass any graduation exam and have no metal plate with a symbol to indicate your loyalties, but I believe that if I were to recruit you I wouldn't have to fight a village to do so." The man said playfully, ignoring the fact that Shiru belonged to Akatsuki, but Akatsuki was not a village, was it? "They are yours." He added needlessly and turned to katana. He stretched his hands to it. "I wanted to teach you kenjutsu. Not that I'm a master, but I know the basics." He picked the sword and looked at it fondly.

The boy tilted his head. He found himself surprised to hear that the man was a master of kenjutsu, because he never read that bit in any bingo book, and the man himself did not carry a sword. And he was surprised to hear the man deny it.

"I learned when I was younger, with this bokken." Minato spoke almost to himself and gently stretched the weapon to his son. "I wanted you to be ten for first lessons."

Shirushi carefully attached the knives to the wall again and accepted the wooden katana as gently as it was given. He found it to be lighter in weight than it seemed. It was so well cared for, even if scratches and barely there dents existed on its surface. Absently, Shiru remembered how he learned about all sorts of ninja knives when he was five, and had advanced training with his double knife when he was nine. Without a doubt, if he was taught by this man, he'd be proficient in wielding swords by the age... fourteen, maybe? Well, he was good enough with wielding his own personal weapon. He was twelve. But the idea itself found its way to the man's head without any prompting and again, its presence was unsettling, pleasing and making him wary all the same.

"I..." Shiru found his mouth dry, for some reason. "I appreciate the thought." He muttered, clearing his throat and gave the bokken back.

"I can teach you, no, I _want_to teach you, it's not too late." The man replied with a hopeful smile and placed the katana on the wall where it was before. "if you want to, of course." He added sheepishly as an afterthought. Probably afraid he sounded pressing.

Unsure how to act all of the sudden at such proclamation, which hinted that Minato _wanted _to teach him and it wasn't about swords only, the blond boy scratched the back of his head, and answered carefully and neutrally. "I'll think about it."

"Make sure you do." The man pressed lightly, seeing the shy exterior of his son and now pleased his offer wasn't immediately rejected.

An inquiring smile tentatively grew on the boy's face as he looked up at the man again. "So, what was the gift for my twelfth birthday?"

The smile stayed on Minato's face unwavering, but the light in his eyes dimmed. He took just a second too long to answer. "It's not here."

Shiru kept his expression just as unwavering, while ringing bells created unbearable noise in his head.

The man had just lied.

It shouldn't have surprised him, after all, he saw people lie practically every day, but it occurred to him that he expected Minato to be aware of his skill to read people. _Didn't Itachi reveal all his secrets?_

"I'll tell you about it later, when we get the opportunity." Minato added softly, not seeing quiver of Shirushi's lip, and moved to the door. "Settle in and have rest."

_He didn't._

* * *

Unsure of how Akatsuki group would've reacted if they saw the rampant masked member destroy everything on his path, Madara waited till he reached his rooms to let go of restrains on his rage. It was all consuming and desperate. It was charring his mind, chasing logic and making him feel useless and even helpless. Nothing bore his anger untouched, and he twisted chairs and tables, broke and shoved shelves and scrolls to make the world around him seem as chaotic as was his heart at the moment.

He might not shown that news of Nii Yugito staying alive meant anything, but there was a hope inside of him that when studied, her survival could help him keep Shirushi alive and extract the Kyuubi both. Now though, it truly meant nothing because she died after a short coma, and Sasori confirmed that her survival was only due to separation of the beast's spirits from her own. That was not the end of it, no, once he stopped moping and glooming over circumstances he sought out the forbidden scroll and examined the seal of the Yondaime as best he could, only to come to conclusion that the freaking thing he was previously laughing over had locked both the soul of the jinchuuriki and its bijuu together, ensuring protection of the beast in case the life of its vessel was threatened. It complicated everything. Changing such a seal could have devastating consequences, not mentioning that it was activated by the Shinigami himself. Playing with God's work was too much of a gamble. What could he _do_?

All of the grand plans, careful masquerading, bijuu hunting was pointless if he could not obtain the blasted fox. Without its strongest 'ingredient', the Juubi would not form.

The glass of the window shuttered as he hit it thoughtlessly.

Then again, Shiru was the master of seals, and if he took a look at his own, he may find a solution. The good question was _where _the seal was placed. Knowing and observing the boy for years Madara should have noticed something, anything that could look like it. Most of jinchuuriki had their backs and stomachs used for that purpose, but the only feature that resembled the seal pattern was the intricate image in the boy's eyes. Could it be that the Yondaime placed the seal in such an important, sensitive part? How did he do it? It was worth looking into.

There was a nagging thought that Shiru was not an idiot and probably studied the seal in detail far long before Madara came to. He did not say what he found though, as he was never asked, and Itachi whisked him away before questions started.

_But what will you do if he confirms that he'll die after extraction and nothing can change it_? His conscience asked making him cringe.

Madara turned around, took notice of mess which gave a fleeting feeling of satisfaction, and decided to not be hasty in his eagerness to retrieve the boy. As much as he wanted to see him and speak to him, ask him questions and answer other in turn, he wasn't ready. He had to be prepared for every possibility.

* * *

Seeing the enormous animal behind the bars subdued and calm made Shiru wary, instead of happy. He was suspicious all day, haven't heard a word from the beast, and wondered if it was due to his unconscious actions or Kyuubi's own. As it appeared, the demon decided to stay quiet on his own, unwilling to further jeopardize their predicament.

"That was very thoughtful of you." The boy acknowledged, noting that the chains that previously successfully tied his lodger were loosely hanging on the inscripted walls.

The orange beast growled lowly in response, following Shirushi's movements with a pair of narrowed eyes.

Hoping that his smirk was not as obvious, the boy stepped through the glowing bars and stretched his arm out as he walked. His fingers brushed Kyuubi's snout and stroked along the jaw. The demon narrowed his eyes further but did not react to contact too badly. The boy tried stroking and scratching the fur behind the ear, to show a bit of affection in appreciation for effort the demon lord put into ignoring the presence of the man that sealed him. "The Hokage is very observant, as the squad that surrounds and protects him at all times. I expected a rant filled with roaring and snarling since I saw his face, and was pleasantly surprised that I did not twitch and cringe with the lack of it."

Baring his teeth but still quiet, the fox turned his head sideways, but not far enough to get rid of the hand that was petting him. It clearly showed that he did not deny his actions but wasn't proud of those either. They already had a threat from Madara, Akatsuki and their bijuu hunt. If Minato and Fire country joined the party because Shirushi was a threat to mankind, they'd have little choice but run or give up. If everyone thought that the fox was still dormant, they'd ignore the Kyuubi's existence until it was revealed and pushed to the front of everyone's mind.

**"Don't expect my silence to last long. I will not stand for foolishness."**The demon grumbled, still looking away. Shiru thought it morbidly adorable, to see the lord behave that way. He didn't believe that the Kyuubi cared for his wellbeing, because if he was extracted and placed into the demon consuming statue then he would still be alive, while the blond himself would die, with his spirit following after the fox. On the other hand, if Shirushi were to die, before the extraction, then the demon would follow him into oblivion. Their lives and souls were tied by the seal, after all.

Intent on petting his lodger till he was mushy, the blond used extra force to rub the large ear. Just as he heard a rumble that might be a purr, his vision turned darker and instead of orange hills of fur, he was greeted with the sight of Minato's face, who looked strangely pale in the dark of the night with only moonlight to make him visible. Still the distinctive glow, dark blue, of the man's chakra made him instantly recognizable. Not that there was any doubt. But what the hell was the man doing here?

„Huh?" The boy voiced, frowning at the intruder. Then his sluggish mind noted the glassy eyes of the man, his kneeling position by the bed, hands folded under the chin, and elbows on the edge of the bed. "Oh, come on!" Shirushi groaned, realizing that the man was probably watching him in his sleep. He might've been even crying, all happiness and sentiment getting to his head.

Minato grinned with his eyes closed, sheepishly, and slouched a bit. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I didn't want to wake you."

The boy groaned more and rubbed his face in a gesture that he was disturbed to discover was inherited from the man. "Well, you did. What do you want?" He asked keeping his eyes covered with the left arm.

"Nothing, just… wanted to see you to confirm... that you were really here." Shiru heard the quiet reply, and mentally raised a brow. So the man woke up in the middle of the night with a thought that all that happened was just a dream? Came here to convince himself he was not delusional? It was a possibility.

"Alright, I'm here. Confirmed. Is that all?" He asked, uncomfortable under such close scrutiny. He felt exposed, especially since the man was watching him while he was unconscious. There was a pause in which he was aware that Minato did not move to leave, and unable to bear the gaze as if feeling it on his skin, he moved his arm away that protected him from the moonlight, and looked at the night guest searchingly.

The man was in pyjamas, which made him look impossibly domestic, something that clashed with his 'the Hokage' character. He was unsure, reluctant to leave, and a sort of stubbornness and happiness kept him glued to Shirushi's bed. He did not want to lose sight of his son, the boy realized. Even if it was just awareness that his son was in the same room as he. _Unsettling_.

"You did not snore." The man said, not adding any mocking or funny tone, it rather sounded like he made a point. "I was listening to your heartbeat and breath pattern." This time it seemed like he was apologizing. For invading the personal bubble, Shiru hoped. Minato still did not look up, as if afraid that the boy would ask him to leave. But when the boy did not speak and the pause started stretching, the man raised his gaze.

Their eyes locked and it seemed that there was no silence anymore. Like the air filled with their thoughts, unvoiced comments and suppressed reactions. Acknowledging this, Shiru was surprised that it took barely a day for them to connect in this way. It made him want to grimace, to groan, to accuse the man for being responsible. He suddenly wanted this moment to be one-sided, with Minato unaware of the blond's observation of his movements. He wanted their positions to be reversed when the man watched him sleep. This level of closeness wasn't something he was ready for.

Minato's gaze moved from one violet eye to the other, and then he raised his right hand and reached out to Shirushi's face. The boy watched the hand advance suspiciously. It was drawing slowly, as if asking him for permission. The fingers trembled just a bit. At last, the fingers touched the temple, so gently that the touch was faint. Unconsciously the boy gulped, unsure what the man wanted from him.

"There's no seal on your stomach." The man whispered. "But I clearly remember that I placed it there."

"Please don't touch me." Shirushi whispered in turn almost interrupting him. He wasn't comfortable with such a personal contact. Only his father could touch and inspect him like that, and only Konan and Itachi when he let them close. Even if Minato was his biological father, he did not earn the right to touch him like that. He turned his head away from the hand, feeling the fingers slip. Then, what the man said registered in his mind and he took a deep breath in, disturbed to find that Minato lifted his shirt and studied his stomach while he slept. When did that happen, when he was drugged or now, when he was still sleeping?

"It's in your eyes now." The man continued to whisper, retrieving his hand. He did not seem worried that his touch was rejected, rather, he was fascinated with the discovery.

"My eyes were _always _like that. I don't remember them ever being different, if you wanted to ask how it happened." He replied still having his head facing the other way. He hoped that was an obvious rebuff and the man would wish him a good night and leave.

"...Alright." Minato answered quietly and Shirushi felt him rise off the ground but move closer. He stubbornly kept his face away from the man but it did not stop him from having an impression that Minato's head was looming over his for some reason. Did he still want to examine his eyes? The warmth from the man's body came closer and suddenly the boy knew that pyjama clad man wanted to kiss his forehead. The angle, position and hovering clearly indicated that, but before it happened, Minato retreated. Maybe he noticed how tense Shiru was at his proximity? He tried to keep his stiffness controlled, but even in the dark Minato could be observant enough to perceive it.

"Goodnight." The voice of the man was soft and accepting. It even made Shiru feel bad, ...but he could not give in.

...

The morning in the Namikaze house saw both Itachi and Shirushi quite adapted and settled in, busying in the kitchen with ease unbecoming of someone who was just a guest. The boy thought that he could attribute that to the closet in his room he opened after walking out of the early shower. He didn't think he'd find there anything, beside whatever he'd decide to put in there, though he supposed he _should _have expected _something_. It's just that he wouldn't have had imagined a row of clothes for all occasions in almost perfect size. The sight made him feel at home. Very at home. To the point where he put on yellow shorts, white tee shirt, socks with an adorable red swirl on heels and strode confidently into the kitchen for breakfast. Itachi was already there, in his usual ninja attire that lacked only sandals and a pouch. Shiru did not think for a moment that the guy was unarmed.

Together, they unceremoniously checked the fridge and started organizing the meal. The noise they made awoke their host, inevitably, and Minato entered their occupation disoriented. He was probably surprised that the pair that didn't know the complete layout of the building felt in the kitchen much at home. That put him in a position where he was torn between joining their attempt at making food and staying sideways to observe the said attempt. Thankfully, he didn't have to decide, because in perfect timing, which was rare, the front doors were loudly banged open, and as there was no squad to defend them in sight, Minato concluded that they had an unexpected visitor.

Two heads turned in direction of the entrance, the pair froze whatever action they were performing. At that moment their expressions were so identical that Minato found it comical. He was too surprised to laugh though, because if the visitor was not hostile, that person was still uninvited.

The sound of heels hitting the floor alerted them that the intruder was inside. All of the sudden aware of consequences and possibilities, Minato visibly winced.

"Morning!" Tsunade chirped, so uncharacteristically of her, that the blond man, who was ashamed to find himself still in pyjamas, almost fell on his side in bewilderment.

The woman was full of energy, charm and warmth in that hour, in that day. Unsurprisingly, only Minato found that odd.

She found them too quickly, in the man's opinion, strode closer purposefully, and ogled Minato's guests like she was his mother and had to make sure there was no funny business in the house.

Shirushi and Itachi, who were still surprised and sleepy too much to panic yet, stared at the woman in turn, blinking in confusion.

"Tsunade!" Minato called, his tone reproving.

"Shut up." She muttered and gave her full attention to Itachi. Her gaze went from the top of the young man's head to his feet, then back. She settled on his calm, sceptic and sarcastic eyes that dared her to wake his sleeping mind. It could be the reason her gaze narrowed, but then she snorted a bit and looked at the boy by Itachi's side like he was a brat that called her an old woman.

Whatever her expression delivered, it made the boy's temple twitch.

"The hell you're staring at." Shiru asked in biting tone, quiet and threatening, in his opinion.

The blonde woman with an impossibly large bust smirked evilly. "The shrimp." She replied and the twitch grew. Her smirk grew as well, and she reached out to grab the boy's chin, but her hand slowed in its approach at the narrow and sharp glare that was directed at her appendage.

"Don't." The boy warned and the hand stopped.

Tsunade tilted her head a bit in Minato's direction, who was unsure how to act but stayed close by. "He bites?"

The man raised his brows, then shook his head. "Don't know but I may let him to."

"Charming." She chirped again and folded her arms under bosom.

"Help make breakfast and I will let you stay?" Minato asked hesitantly and ignored the exchange of looks between Itachi and Naruto. He knew what he was doing.

The woman grimaced. "I'm not cooking."

Ok, maybe he didn't.

Minato sighed and thought he might change his garments first, to keep his dignity, and then, and only then, deal with the rest.

...

Other than restlessness, quiet and meaningful glances in direction of sharingan wielders, the trip back to Konoha was peaceful and boring.

As Kakashi predicted, they could not take the piece of stone off the wall, and had to build the new genjutsu barrier to keep the wandering folks away. He was not disappointed with that, though, he'd rather accept the thing on the wall under the abandoned shrine, than have it somewhere inside a village. The thing gave him 'vibes'. He didn't voice that concern, maybe due to his reputation or simply doubts that lingered in his mind, but knew that many details will be found in his report.

Curiously, even Guy avoided being eccentric, which, Kakashi thought, was not welcome when a bit of funny weirdness could've dissolved the tension. He could not take the man's role, though, so he ignored the mood of the group and led everyone back to the village. The silence gave him opportunity to think over Sasuke's reaction to their findings. The boy was obviously troubled, and was gloomier than before. It seemed he wasn't as naive and as stupid as Kakashi was afraid he was. The written speech that started with 'Behold', could have made many believe they found a treasure, but to someone who was aware of Uchiha clan darker nature, it should have been a warning, one both he and Sasuke heeded, it seemed. The Uchiha youngest heir did not answer the questions of his curious, nagging teammates, and thankfully, those got the message. He and Sasuke must've outwardly showed that what they learned was not a cause to be happy, and quite classified. It settled the ominous mood that kept up with them on their road.

As village gates appeared in sight, Sasuke took a deep breath and sighed. Somehow, it was easier to breathe when he felt they were closer to home. Maybe a sort of safety was making him feel that way. Out in the open, when they were travelling through forests and fields of the country, it felt different, dangerous. The secret they learned was like a burden that pulled him down and made him feel like a bait for those that sought it. And the heavy silence in between them caused him to expect shadows going after them, expect to be surrounded with enemies at any given moment. He would never say it but he missed their jounin's exuberance. When the man behaved like an idiot, it made Sasuke feel superior in intellect, even though he knew Guy was not stupid, just weird. He did not believe for a moment that Guy and Kakashi were friends. From his, and many other's point of view, Kakashi was too normal in comparison to taijutsu specialist. For a short time of their joint mission he even wondered what could it have been like, to study and work with a masked man. He had one, implanted sharingan eye, so he could teach Sasuke a lot. He was quick, intelligent, skilled and experienced, one of the best jounin in Konoha. Why did he get a team of Hyuuga, Might junior and weapon specialist, and not a team of Uchiha, a book genius and a medic? It seemed obvious that this team would suit Kakashi better. He could teach them stealth, ninjutsu and assault tactics. Guy on the other hand, could be the best choice for the taijutsu oriented team. Hyuuga were using their eye and taijutsu style mainly, Might junior was already on a way to be the best taijutsu user in Konoha as his father was, and that Tenten girl could use only taijutsu to support her weapon oriented style. So, why?

Strangely, the genin of Kakashi were quiet and attentive, even Lee. It was as if they understood the severity of the situation without any questions. Maybe they were given some instructions? Or were they _that _attuned to the behaviour of their sensei?

They passed the gates and Sasuke noted the gathering dark clouds on the sky. Additionally, the air gained the scent of the closing rain, or storm. They were lucky to reach the village before it started.

The lazy, useless guards checked their papers and mission scrolls, and let them in. It could be Sasuke's tired imagination, but he thought he noticed a sort of _look _they gave him. Did he have a stain somewhere? Was suddenly transferred without him knowing or anything happened which warranted that? He shook his head, of course not. Their team was absent for days, not weeks or months. _I should get some rest. Bed sounds good now_.

The stroll through the village was short, but he thought he saw the _looks_again. Subtle, guarded, worried, nervous. Rare, but he was so unused to this sort of gaze that his attention quickly caught such a thing. It felt like paranoia. He had to be dreaming. And this depressed sky. The silence of their group grew even more ominous. Maybe they noticed something too? Kakashi's single eye darted here and there, calmly, as they walked. At one point, that eye caught his in a meaningful exchange. That way, he pointed that he noticed something too. A shiver ran up Sasuke's spine, but he wasn't sure to what sort of change in the air.

...

_The next day_

"This is the distinctive feature of Konoha." The man pointed at the faces carved on the mountain. "Those are faces of the Shodaime, Nidaime, Sandaime and the Yondaime. Not completely accurate, I add, but there is surely a feeling of power when you look at them." He said, rubbing his chin with a grin. "Do you like it?"

Shiru gave him a look that said he wasn't impressed to the degree Minato expected him to be.

After putting a henge on, the man dragged him outside and into the heart of the village, to show him the home he should've had grew up in. Now the village leader looked like a civilian, a man of medium height, early thirties, light brown hair, boring colour of brown eyes, cargo pants, high boots, plain white shirt and a mesh tunic over it. It should have made the man look like a village citizen or just a random visitor. But he could not rid of the 'air' around him that made people look up when he passed by. The source of it was in his posture, gestures, a tone of voice he used and a smile. He might change the way he looked, but he could not change who he was.

Shirushi had to insist that he _would not _use a transformation technique, because the man could not believe he was _incapable _of using it. Therefore, Minato made him put on the white cloak with a hood, instead of the black, cloud decorated Akatsuki one. Thankfully, he could seal the thing that had treasures in its pockets into his skin using blood, to make sure no one else had access to it. Other than that, he did not change his appearance at all, refusing to change into clothes Minato suggested and used the spare attire he had with him. The hood of the white article did not hide his face much, and possibly, made him stick out like a sore thumb more than a black cloak would, but their options were limited, he mused. He could not change his appearance, and the man could not stand seeing him in black and with an Akatsuki mark. The compromise was a result.

It did not make their walk easier.

"It's just a rock with faces of famous people." The boy's expression was deadpan.

Minato's spirit visibly fell. He sighed and led them further, down the main street where people were busy with daily activities. The man's hand somehow rested on Shiru's shoulder now in a half embrace as they walked, and tensing at the gesture the boy subtly pushed it off him, reminding the man that he did not agree to be touched.

"Well, how... Madara entertained you, then? Taught you new, cool jutsu?" Minato asked, accepting that his son did not want him to touch him so casually.

A small, sweet and satisfied smile stretched on the boy's lips and his eyes looked somewhere afar. "On my last birthday, he let me watch the skirmish between the bandits and a pair of ninja. One of those, had the ability to manipulate wood, like Senju. ...Later, he even let me examine that guy."

Minato abruptly stopped and after blinking several times, turned to face the blond. "Leaf ninja?"

"Hmm?" The boy turned to him, puzzled at first. "Oh, yes. They had a leaf symbol on their metal plates." He answered nodding in his speech, clearly remembering all the details.

The man was shocked and could not hide it. He was looking down at the blond but his gaze was unseeing, he obviously was lost in thought, analyzing something. Then he cocked his head slightly. "How did they react to meeting you?"

It was Shirushi's turn to be puzzled, he tilted his head too, noting that it was the same side Minato preferred. "What do you mean? They didn't see me."

"Oh." Was all the henge'ed man said and as gears visibly turned in his mind, he brought his attention back on the present and the street they were on, and led the way again. He obviously was intrigued and had no idea how the boy came to watch and examine someone without meeting them, but it wasn't a topic he pushed, so the boy thought it ok to ignore the weird reaction. As they pleasantly walked warmed by sun rays, Shiru glanced at the looming faces carved in the mountain, and found himself thinking that even if that was just a rock with faces, it _did _invoke a feeling of sorts.

His attention moved to civilians and ninja population. It was weird that he received far more feeling and reaction when seeing people of this place. It was weird that he could not see shinobi patrols controlling the streets like it was in Ame. He was used to seeing fear, however meagre or large it was at seeing the individuals with a ripple-eye symbol. Here, ninja were living among civilians, and the difference in equality was not as obvious as the boy expected it to be. Overall, the village was warm, had a calm mood, satisfied, in his opinion. When so many people gave off similar emotions, it was hard not to notice, especially since Ame was widely different and he was used to it. Ame was home. But in comparison to the village hidden in leaves, Ame was anxious, hopeful and sad. He didn't think of it before until something like this difference struck him. Did others see this too? Of course, but they probably had other signals as well. Itachi would read people's faces and actions, for example, and come to similar conclusions. ...But he could not see people's hearts.

Puzzled looks followed them from time to time. Minato ignored those and just grinned like an idiot. Shiru found it both aggravating and amusing. He knew that Hyuuga could see through illusion. They met two on their way. Both thought it probably ridiculous to see the village leader stride through the place like a stranger.

Suddenly Shirushi saw someone else notice that the man by his side was not who he seemed to be. It was a shinobi, he had funny grey hair that wanted to run away or reach the sky, a headband with metal plate that covered one eye, a mask that had to be uncomfortable because it obviously was an obstacle for breathing and eating, and there was a book in his hand that he was so engrossed in that he _shouldn't_have had noticed anything beside the pages under his nose. And yet, the cautious, observant man paid attention to his surroundings and quickly noted that either the man by his side was not who he presented himself to be, or was the Yondaime Hokage. Hatake Kakashi, the man of thousand's jutsu, Shirushi's memory supplied, a picture of the man in the bingo book popping out before his mind's eye.

Young children, presumably genin, were by the man's position, following his lead, but they didn't notice anything. And then there was another man, a very strong man though he did not look to be as serious judging by his looks-lots of green, nauseating, ridiculous haircut- who saw through the illusion too. They were jounin, and genin in between were their students. Funny, that their group looked like a family, dysfunctional family, because children were exchanging glares and parents ignored each other.

The group was walking in the opposite direction, meaning, getting closer, and the pair of jounin tilted their heads inspecting Minato. What kind of genius the man was if he could not execute a successful genjutsu over himself? Was it deliberate?

The grey haired guy forgot about his book and was opening his mouth to say something when they were closer. Predicting that whatever words followed could be dangerous, Minato went forward to act and started with a greeting. "Good afternoon, Leaf shinobi! What journey and adventures are you heading from? How many times did you save the world today?" A ridiculous, stupid, embarrassing and utterly daft greeting, in Shirushi's mind. He wasn't alone, because a pair of dark haired boys had sweat dropped, and girls sighed and rolled their eyes.

The jounin became sheepish all of the sudden and were rubbing the backs of their heads like twins, mumbling something about not saving the world but doing important missions. Minato in disguise nodded along, grinned toothily and asked absurd questions.

"Get on with it sensei!" The girl with cute buns on her head hissed impatiently and elbowed the Hatake jounin. The boy that stood closest to Shirushi huffed, irritated by the confrontation with civilians. Shirushi found it strange that his white cloak did not make an impression of him not being a civilian and getting the attention of adults. Sure, his chakra was locked and no one found him a threat, but he thought jounin level ninja would be more observant. To prove his point to himself, he looked at the boy that made undignified sound and deduced that he must be an Uchiha. His face definitely resembled Itachi's, and chakra pathways connected to his eyes were far more developed than usual ninja's. He was young but he trained taijutsu and ninjutsu a lot, judging from his muscle and chakra reserves. Strange that Itachi never spoke of his family, Madara didn't either, for that matter. But the clan was slaughtered wasn't it? How many more Uchiha are out there? His attention moved to the other boy, definitely a Hyuuga, their white eyes a main clue. The stare was returned, and they inspected each other. This one might found his eyes interesting. Mutual, Shiru noted. The Uchiha boy saw the exchange and joined in observation.

"Your old man is an idiot, and is interfering with the work of shinobi." The dark haired relative spoke without greeting, insulting both the blond and the Namikaze.

At that moment the grey haired jounin muttered something about shrines and the blond quickly came up with a retort. "And your teacher is so stupid that he discloses classified details of your mission."

The pink haired girl must have heard about shrines too, because she shrieked loudly. "Sensei! That's confidential!"

"Ah, don't worry Sakura-chan, we have everything under control, right, Kakashi?" Guy asked nervously and Minato was baffled at how much influence his persona, even when hidden, had over his subordinates. They did not control what came out of their mouths, giving him report as if he asked for it. Sure, he wasn't in his office yesterday, and planned to sent a clone there today, but surely it couldn't be this urgent?

Both of the jounin were aware that the Hokage had a purpose for covering himself in illusion, but both could not stop fidgeting and organize themselves about how to act. Minato decided that next time he will inform the oddest ninja of the bunch in advance.

"You know, saving the world is such a hard task. Never know what traps and temptations stand on the way..." Kakashi confessed and scratched his cheek, giving a hint on something. Minato's grin faltered a bit but he was stoic. He trusted the pair to keep their students oblivious and decided to continue with the show and make a heartfelt goodbye before the coincidental meeting spun out of control . God knew he didn't think that Kakashi could recognize him by the way he _walked_.

As the insults were quietly flying between the younger generation, Shirushi noted the very shiny detail that belonged to a weird kid that sprouted something about being kind to strangers and responsibilities toward civilians. Average amount of chakra, weird off limits intelligence, and an anomaly-undeveloped tenketsu. Interesting, but at the moment irrelevant. The most curious thing was the necklace the guy had on him. The stone, shiny, pure, was giving off vibes of calm, control and again, purity. Shirushi didn't even notice that he leaned in close to the said object and the person that was wearing it until someone cleared their throat to stall his progress. He noted that genin children backed away somewhat from him, wary of his odd behaviour. Unsure how to make them ease, he grinned toothily and sheepishly, squinting his eyes. That made him look even weirder, probably, because the kids exchanged glances.

"I think he knows about the necklace," The girl with buns on her head whispered to the anomaly guy conspiratorially, pretending to be serious but actually serious about it as well, "be careful, Lee, he might steal it or something."

"That wasn't nice." Shiru grimaced at the said girl pointedly.

"She isn't a nice person, generally." The Hyuuga boy voiced, justifying her or adding an insult using the moment.

"Hey!" She reacted violently and punched the boy's arm. He stoically ignored it. Their anomaly teammate smiled shakily and sweat dropped.

"I was just mesmerized, that happens. And I'm not offended." The blond spoke cordially, he didn't want to make a fuss in public, it wasn't his fault he was odd by their standards, and it wasn't their fault they perceived him like that.

"No one apologized to you, dobe." The Uchiha specimen put in, gazing at the blond with amusement and fake pity.

Shiru folded his arms. "Well, I'm offended _now_."

"No one cares." The Hyuuga added, for some reason supporting the specimen. Some guy in glasses coughed quite loudly. Shiru didn't pay him any attention but it appears he was a teammate, otherwise, why would he stay close with the group? But he wasn't a genin. Weird.

"We should be civil, people. This kid didn't do anything to deserve your group attack." The shy looking guy which was external and fake, rationalized, but was largely ignored by his colleagues.

"He stands on our way, deliberately. Why should we be civil?" The specimen joked, but Shiru didn't find it funny.

"Ha-ha. We'll see what you say when that civilian hands your ass to you, asshole."

The bunny girl bared her teeth in a grin. "Look, he bites!"

"I do more than bite, excuse for a ninja." The blond muttered, deciding that leaf kids were too weird.

"Rude!" The girl replied, indignant. Here Shiru heard Minato's loud voice.

"Well, I'm not keeping you, ladies," a considerate glance at the girls, "and gentlemen, from your marvellous job! Have a nice day, full of great exploits!" the man announced and without looking grabbed his son's hand.

"Wait, we're not finished!" Shirushi exclaimed, trying to go back to the group of genin who made rude expressions at him. "They insulted me, we're not _even _yet!" He explained himself but the man dragged him away with a wide smile. "SIMPLETONS!" The boy shouted back at the group as he and Minato were farther and farther away. In his opinion, that offence was harsh and described them quite well. He was enraged and mad, eager to go back and beat the genin to show who was and wasn't a civilian. He didn't even notice Minato's pleased smile at lively interaction with local children, all his thoughts were on his lack of ability to intermingle with peers, insults he had to stand and the man's idiotic behaviour.

None of them noted that as they continued walking they still held their hands.

...

Shirushi sat outside the house, on the porch that looked inviting since the first time he saw it. Boredom did not bother him, as he spent the last hour by subtly observing the anbu squad that kept watch on Minato's house. He found it tempting to openly display his awareness of their positions, but thought it prudent to keep his skill secret. If they knew he could see them, they'd look for a way to become invisible, not like that was possible while possessing chakra and solid body. His eyes could see both, and those guys would have to learn to utilize negative energy to catch him unaware.

A gleam of compressed power, unhurried steps, thoughtful, bothered expression on the face, and Itachi passed the gates. When he noticed the blonde boy, he smoothed his expressions and emotions even, but did not replace them with others. He knew it would not fool Shirushi. Instead, he calmly walked closer, till he was standing beside him, looking down inquiringly. The boy looked up rising raising his brows, meeting the gaze of the towering young man without being intimidated. Shirushi glowered a moment later.

"Your younger brother is an arrogant prick." The boy broke the silence and discretely observed emotions shift on Itachi's face. There was surprise, longing, confusion and slight amusement. "Has no manners whatsoever, made me wanna break his nose."

"I haven't seen him yet but I will take your assessment into account." The young man replied evenly, in full control of what his voice revealed. But there was a smirk that he could not quite hide.

"Never told me you have a brother." Shirushi looked away and spoke quietly a minute later, knowing that there was accusing and judging tone he could not cover, but unwilling to stay silent about the matter. "And don't tell me it's my fault I never asked."

"It's not your fault. I just never spoke of it." Itachi answered sombrely. The boy heard regret and sadness, and he was sure that Itachi wasn't sad because he kept quiet. He regretted the matter itself, the cause of it and its outcome. The details escaped the blond, but he did not pressure for the story. Itachi's mistakes and guilt was his personal business. It was unfortunate that the young man considered _Shirushi's _life and fate his own.

* * *

Several days later Shirushi felt too restless to be lazing about. He was sure that if he didn't do something then something unpleasant would happen. Like calm before the storm, like obligations you forgot about that came biting you later.

Obligations...

Minato went personally to his office that day, giving a hint that there was something important to do that he could not trust a clone with. Itachi was in the basement, checking a pile of boring files after leaving the boy with several interesting scrolls and books to read. The house was surrounded by guards with specific orders, but none of them went inside. Left to his own devices, not interrupted by offers to eat, to walk to train and whatever else Minato had in mind, Shirushi found himself alone for the first time in what seemed like ages. And what people that were kidnapped do when they are given space and a temporary free rein? Try to run away of course. Well, it's not like anyone treated him like a prisoner, and he did not encounter walls of the cage, but his prison was large, named Konoha, and his personal guards not only kept an eye on his movements but also had others watch him too. Sooner or later that illusion of protection would fall, when Madara appeared in the picture, and Akatsuki would show their face and their plans. Itachi already became an unofficial target because he betrayed the group, and Shirushi would not bet that Minato could protect him from whatever his father planned.

All this escape route seemed meaningless in wake of Madara's intelligence and resourcefulness. The man would come when he decided to, despite the distance and squads of anbu he'd have to pass through. But did Shiru want the man to find him here, or find him elsewhere? There wasn't much difference, beside the circumstances and Shiru's stance.

To stay, or to run? That is the question.

**"**_**To stay put or have fun? That is the matter."**_The voice inside his head added with a chuckle.

Humming to himself contemplatively, Shiru agreed. After the first twenty four hours of initial shock have passed, the merry mood Minato strived to build around him became too boring, too worrying. It did not lead anywhere, no matter what Minato imagined. The man must have some strange idea that now that he found his son, Shirushi will stay by his side forever. Or at least, that he'd be able to keep him.

With a shaky sigh, the boy closed the book he did not read, put it back on top of the others, stood from the table and took a glance around his room. It was weird to think of it as his own so quickly, but Minato managed to make it so. Even though, he felt like he intruded on the life and space of this Naruto. He did not believe himself to be this child, despite all the evidence.

_Naruto did not exist._

He lived in the minds of several people that were aware of his birth.

Naruto had a father, the Yondaime Hokage that was ready to turn the world upside down for his son, _ready_, not meaning that he could actually _do_it.

Shirushi had a father too. Uchiha Madara, that could turn Konoha upside down when he felt the need arose, not meaning that he actually _had _to do it.

Then again, what did it matter what Shirushi accomplished, or failed to accomplish? The results and outcomes did not depend on his actions. There was little he could do, even if he was in the centre, even if his position and involvement was on everyone's mind.

He absently made a slow circle with his steps around the room, and stopped by the bookshelf, where his index finger traced the spine of the inconspicuous notebook. The frown on his face smoothed and he let his hand fall. He wouldn't take anything that belonged to Naruto.

Tilting his head slightly, he listened to the sounds in the house, wondering whether Itachi was bothered about leaving him alone or not. Everything was quiet, so he quickly measured pros and cons of his ideas, and without further hesitation, let the dark energy awake and flow through him, and slipped through the floor.

How curious that nature energy was not part of one's chakra and could not be locked that easily. As an outside source and as an inside reserve, it was what could be used for ninja techniques, but playing with it was dangerous, and the energy itself was capricious. Thankfully, he tested his access to it at night, when no one was watching, and found that the skill was available.

He passed the part of the basement, dark grounds beneath the building, and emerged outside, still close enough to spot the guards, but far enough still to be sure he would not be noticed in case he revealed himself.

The house itself was as quiet outside as it was inside, and mentally, the boy started counting how long it took for anyone to notice his absence. It would be easier if he could create a shadow clone that could replace him in that room upstairs, so that everyone so him studying, and generally being there while the original escaped. But well, the problem with the seal could be solved later. It even gave him more time, since Madara and Minato would have to find him by scent now.

The world became the picture of grey, black, white, and hues and tints of other chakra and energies. The world became a dance of currents and tendrils, where energy had a mind and soul, and danced to the music it heard. Shirushi started following one, swimming to the heart of the village to look around for a minute, to observe. Sometimes he thought he could hear the music the tendrils danced to, not exactly hear, maybe feel it, be aware of its rhythm and mood. Other times he got lost in it, feeling that it was the shadow that controlled him, not the other way around. But he indulged and played with it, somehow knowing that it made the exchange of control easier.

It's been awhile, since he submerged himself so deep that he was invisible and untouchable to everyone and everything in the world.

As he moved further he encountered people, civilians and ninja, shiny and oblivious. He smelled their chakra, noting who was a threat and who was a pest. It was a bit silly, to play with them unaware, but he loved that power.

And then he got to the roof nearby, actually felt that he almost flew up there, and took a longer time to inspect the barrier around the village. He took notice of it when Minato gave him a tour, but thought it best not to focus on the thing in the man's presence. Now he could get an eyeful.

It was enormous, powerful, and it definitely would inform Minato of his absence. Inconvenient, useful, and generally a pain. ...If he were to pass it without the use of negative energy.

The best thing was, Minato and his people would believe that he was still somewhere in the village, hiding or up to no good. Only Itachi could have any idea of Shirushi's skills, but he already proved that he'd keep at least _some _of his secrets.

Getting out of here wasn't hard.

But it wasn't all he had in mind. There wasn't much choice in his options. His failure to accomplish something and actually accomplishing it would not change anything, but he could always give it a try, right?

If it wasn't for the distinctive physiology and chakra reserves, Shirushi was sure that he wouldn't find him.

If it wasn't for his ability to see through walls, he was certain he'd give up on idea precious minutes ago.

Konoha was charming, yes, warm and sunny. Comfortable and cosy.

But damn if it wasn't crazy.

He was observant when walking the streets, but from above, when seeing many examples and subjects at once, the effect was overwhelming. How could anyone ever willingly agree to have insects in their lungs? Scratch it, have them everywhere and anywhere inside one's body? And slugs! Slimy, small and talking, just appearing in places, taking up space and looking like a grand net of spies from his point. Oh, don't forget the dogs. He couldn't remember seeing so many dogs at once in one village. He knew of course, about the clan that had them as lifetime partners, but didn't expect it to be so true and significant. And Hyuuga, they were practically everywhere. Not to mention trees! His vision was constantly _hindered _by greenery. And watching the villagers he realized that they not only lived _among _the trees, but _on _the trees as well. Patrolling anbu squads of Konoha practically dwelled in the foliage, staying hidden there for hours on end. Here and there one oddity followed the other, and he was actually glad that his target favoured _noisy _behaviour.

He leaped down and raced in the dance of shadows until he was close enough to the goal.

The boy was funny.

Shirushi stopped steps away, unseen to anyone, watching the exchange between the anomaly guy and a younger kid with a ridiculously long scarf. They seemed to be bickering, but he could see the great deal of affection in between. The child was average, not having anything that could grab Shiru's attention. Coming to conclusion that he found no threat, the blond shrugged and focused on his goal.

Like the last time he saw it, the stone necklace on the anomaly guy's chest was giving the vibes of tranquil and power. He ignored the personal bubble that should have stopped him from getting so close and considered the stone with an expert stare. A little tinkering on someone's part left its small, but visible mark. A pair of seals designed for gathering and releasing gave the stone some practical use, and Shirushi suspected that it served some purpose for the anomaly guy. A special jutsu? Last resort? He wasn't sure and for some reason he wasn't happy that someone changed the properties of the necklace. It was not the object to experiment with.

Determined to find a way to get rid of addition, he caught the stone in the palm on his hand in mid-air, as the wearier hopped while in ridiculous dialogue with his younger companion.

A jolt of..._something _passed through him at the contact and afraid that his surprise might give him away, he quickly covered the object with his energy and took it with him.

He distanced himself a bit to see if the pair noticed anything, but they were so engrossed in exchanging flashing stances of taijutsu, that he doubted they'd see the absence of the stone any time soon. Satisfied with it, he left without a glance back and decided that he should be behind the barrier right now, and he was late.

Streets became a blur as he ran to the walls, and he ignored any lingering doubts. He wouldn't be free, he knew that, but illusion of it was as close as he could come to.

A flash of blinding light from behind him made him slow his pace and dart his eyes around the area. He was past the walls now, surrounded by greenery, and no one could have followed him. It had to be some nature energy that caught his attention, not chakra of the ninja. Eyes narrowed and suspicious, the blond resumed the sprint, only to skid to a stop as the same flash appeared right before him. His mind that was on high from success finally reminded him that it was the nature energy, yes.

_Positive _nature energy. Something he wasn't used to seeing.

And it had a user, and a wielder. He was huge, old, powerful, white-haired, and very, very determined to not let him pass by.

"Going somewhere, lad?"

End of chapter 16

* * *

_Inspiration source: __**High speed**__, by Coldplay_


	17. Father, Part II

**A. N.** _The world is plastic, it's fantastic..._

* * *

Edited by **Warrior of Sangre**

Chapter 17

Father, Part II

Flashback

_No one disturbed Minato when he was busy in his workroom. It wasn't the same as his office, but he spent here a large amount of hours, creating, destroying, and creating again._

_Numerous shelves were filled with scrolls, drawings, bowls, different tools for different materials. And usually, as today, the floor was hidden by the layer of papers, variables of seal patterns and splotches of ink. In the centre of it all, Minato ignored the rest of the world as he studied the wooden chair. Its shape was plain, and wood was no rarity. But it stopped being a simple chair when the blond man decided to turn it into a chair with purpose, other than sitting, of course. Now it was covered with intricate symbols, sequences of seals that made sense only to Minato._

_His shiny blue eyes gazed playfully at his artwork, while he sat on the floor among the little chaos, like a child, that gained access to a new toy. His undignified position did not embarrass him at all, and the focus he gave to the chair resembled that of one he'd give to a map of the world at the time of war, war he was confident he would win. A sense of accomplishment already surrounded him and he reached for a brush and paint to cover the symbols from curious eyes when there was a knock at the door. Startled he stared at the entrance and muttered a quiet permission to enter._

_Shirushi slowly opened the door wider and gave the place one glance before he settled his deadpan look on the man on the floor, who seemed to hug a chair and was prepared to give it a lovely session of painting. He suspected that shelves were full of wonderful ideas and the chair was a special project that he'd eagerly study, but as it looked to be a very private and personal space of the blonde man, the boy put questions in the corner of his mind for later. "There's a guy outside the house, who says you were supposed to await him for a training session."_

_Minato blinked and before he had his gears turned into motion, Shirushi continued. "A Hyuuga. The boy looks to be around my age. I did not let him in..,"_

_The older man jumped and muttered several curses. Making circles around the messed room he tried to fix his appearance. "Neji came for an appointed time, I forgot about it, completely." Minato berated himself unsuccessfully trying to hide some of the objects. Then he looked at the boy in the doorframe. "Do you want to join? It could be fun, I don't think Neji would mind."_

_Shiru raised a brow. "I think he _would _mind. From what it looks like, it is your private time together. I will not impose nor 'join the fun' as you put it. Go and let your guest in." The boy spoke and quietly left the room. Minato stared after him for a moment, admiring his maturity, but then shook himself off the stupor and went to greet his favourite genin. He wasn't sure how Shirushi felt about his father having private training sessions with some boy, but hoped his son was not bitter about it and did not look too deep into the matter..._

* * *

_Suna_

After crawling through the desert believing that it was a futile attempt at staying alive, he might have expected to see people unhappy about his tenacity, with relief blowing away from their expressions to be replaced with displeasure.

It wasn't surprising, really, as he'd be much happier if half of them disappeared to never come back as well. But as it was, he found himself at disadvantage, because when previously he was sure of his ability to push the annoying crowd away, it was no longer so.

Just who decided that they could mess with his life like that? Either make it pointless and difficult so he could deal with it, or make it easier from the start. The world could not decide what option to choose with him apparently.

That thought, and many others, went through Gaara's mind as he was locked in a pseudo medical room for his own protection, or, as he was confident his head worked properly, for protection of others. Even if they were shocked at his coming back and his weak useless state, they still generally feared that he was as alive and as nasty to them as ever, and these people believed that keeping him caged made sense.

True, he could not lash out at the moment, and doubted he'd ever be able to repeat his cruellest and most creative of feats, but that in no way meant that he'd let them get away with treating him as a thing. He hoped that his glare delivered his thoughts well to his visitors, that shifted in place and cringed, unable to utter a word as if any speech would be like signing for their own death. Although, Gaara remembered that he actually threatened them with 'sand waterfall funeral' each time he was annoyed by something related to their persons.

He never followed that threat, though, always finding one reason or another to explain why he didn't. They got quite used to it, it seemed, and on some level, started to believe that his threats were rather empty, when directed at them. He could not fight logic after all the time that passed, and accepted that there were boundaries he unconsciously kept and ignored for his own benefit.

"...we just wanted to see how you're doing." Was the first coherent sentence he heard since the pair walked into the room and kept trembling on the edge of his personal space. Acknowledging that at least one of them spoke and made sense, he dismissed the pointlessness of the said statement and graced his visitors with another glare.

Temari, who explained their presence in successful speech that was uttered without stuttering, flinched at the coldness of green eyes and looked away. Gaara interpreted her reaction as shame but wasn't sure what she was ashamed about.

"I'm fine." He replied after a longer pause, wondering when his siblings would leave. His brother was sweating in fear rather than in warmth of his ridiculous black suit, and was giving subtle nudges in Temari's back to prompt her to leave the room. But she was quite stubborn about standing in place and Gaara suspected that it had to do with him lying on the bed, under the covers and belts that strapped him to it in a way that restricted his movement to none. Who would fear a beast that was caged?

"...Good." She answered, unsure of herself, but closed her eyes and visibly gathered all her strength and determination with a deep breath in. Seeing that display of readying courage, Kankuro looked up and seemed to pray to heavens, while at the same time, Gaara became intrigued. His face was expressionless though, because he didn't want to appear curious.

"...Is it... really gone?" She asked at last, and looked up at her youngest brother hopefully. He found Kankuro also listening for reply in rapt attention, and wondered why the answer concerned them so much. Did it imply that they wished they could find him defenceless? Did they want confirmation for their own doubts? Did they want revenge? Or maybe someone ordered them to enter and ask that specific question.

Well, it's not like his answer would be news to anyone. He thought that the whole village was already aware of his state and predicament, and honestly, was surprised that he wasn't attacked to be rid of yet.

"It is." The redhead replied evenly, reminiscing about the dreams he had while sleeping, weird, bizarre, unrealistic and so messed up that it was a joy he looked forward to in the future. Many things happened in his mind when it was resting and relying on imagination. How could he live without it?

Temari let out a breath of relief, relaxing her posture slightly. "Good." She said, but Gaara did not understand her. Kankuro nodded to agree with his sister, but Gaara could not understand what he was agreeing to either. Didn't they see that he lost his defence against enemies? That he lost his protection, and all that remained of their mother? How could they be so happy about it when he was so miserable and lost?

...

_Ame_

Nothing made sense.

Details did not appear to make a full picture.

If for all the years he knew his son he's never connected him to the fox, despite knowing quite well what that bijuu was and how to recognize it, then, by all means, the boy should be who Madara always perceived him to be.

And apparently, he wasn't.

If you don't know how to connect the ends, then go to the beginning, logic insisted. And so Madara did. He organized his mind and prepared himself for the trip to the past. For that purpose, he went on top of the tower, locked the entrance from the stairs, and for a short time marvelled at the peace of the skies. He hoped to be ignored for as long as he was solving the puzzle that was teasing him for years.

The flat ground, alarm and ventilation constructions became the flames of fire, charred earth, smoke and screams from the distance. The afternoon sky became grey, lightened by destruction below, but dark and filled with stars beyond the layer of fumes and soot.

In front of him appeared a small form of cloth wrapped baby, and a first question that weighted on his mind.

If the child was there, with Namikaze, when the fox was defeated, then how did it appear here, miles away and without a soul nearby? Who brought the baby to this destroyed village? Certainly not the Yondaime, since the man claimed his son was kidnapped, and was looking for him for years that the boy spent with Madara. Rather, the man would come to conclusion that whatever sort of kidnapping took place, the first enemy of Konoha was a mind behind it. Assuming that Namikaze now knew who was a parent to his child.

Somehow, he knew that his meeting with the infant, in such circumstances, wasn't a coincidence. Something compelled him then, to pick up the bundle and decide that he was curious enough to give it a care.

The scenery changed, to show his old summon, Hanare, on the edge of the field where the animal watched the young blonde child train accuracy in throwing sharp projectiles.

After he resigned from the contract, the clan of foxes ignored him in favour of the boy, giving him tips, lessons and never ending attention. Not that it bothered him much at the time, as he preferred to deal with his own matters and only gradually grew to appreciate the time he spent with the boy. Now though, he saw that insistence with which the animals clung to the little blond had other motive. It seems they knew of what was living inside of him. Which made him all the more suspicious about the way he ignored the hints before.

There were instances when he had questions, and ringing bells in his mind that were behind the curtain of his own assumptions. How come those never led to finding answers? He treated the boy's eyes as mutation, his power as the result of his own effort, and foxes loved Shirushi because you could not but adore him, and at last, his chakra and ability to heal wasn't anything surprising in the world of ninja. It's just that together, all the hints should have formed a picture, and till today, he was completely blind to it.

The roof became the ground of the cave, spacious and enormous, with a grand horrific statue looming over anyone who entered the room. An image of the boy losing footing and fighting headache disturbed him again, as always, but this time he was aware of other circumstances. Could it be that even then, when he had no idea of the boy's identity, the statue recognized the jinchuuriki and wanted to consume him? Why did he not investigate the reaction? All he thought of later was to let the boy be and not force him to face it in any near future. But if he insisted on another session then, he might have learned the truth...

The scenery changed again and showed how Shiru was attacked by Orochimaru's minion on the territory of abandoned lair. Red swirl of energy, purple violent tints escaped the surface of the boy's skin as he struggled to survive the beating from the white haired shinobi. He should have felt, seen it then, but for some reason all Madara could remember was familiarity, worry and pride from that day, not suspicions. It had to be glaringly obvious and clear before his eyes for him to finally understand. As when Shiru rushed to counter the power of eight tails disregarding his own safety. Majestic view of nine glowing wisps of energy around the boy could not be a better evidence of who he was. And then that use of ice mirrors that acted like a shield... He suspected that Shirushi could use some of bloodline limits with his ability to circumvent the requirements with seals, but he still didn't see some of the tricks. Being angry, fooled, confused and manipulated aside, Madara could not lie about the pride that accompanied his reactions.

That was why the boy had to live.

...

_Konoha_

Everyone makes mistakes. Sooner or later.

Some make them quite often, others rarer.

Some mistakes have awful consequences while other are harmless. Which category did his last mistake belong to?

Shirushi grimaced as he counted the paper tags covered in seals, that were hanging on the threads of wire around the room. The walls were so thick covered with those that the sight was morbid. "I don't like it. If previously I was given an illusion of being free, now I definitely feel and look like a prisoner."

The white haired old man looked up from his position on the floor. "That's temporary." He voiced with a grin and went back to scribbling something on the wide sheet of paper. With each stroke the boy was surer in his assumption that whatever thing this man was doing was supposed to be a smaller version of this prison. He wasn't sure if bars were worse. These, he could escape with time and careful thinking. A smaller thing that could be wrapped around him, drawn on him and whatever, on the other hand, could prove to be harder to avoid or get rid of. There already was a bloody seal on his neck that acted as a lock on his chakra. Not that he lost any, he simply could not let it go farther than the skin. It made the use of ninjutsu impossible. If there was a way to do the same thing with his nature energy skills then he'd be limited to weaponry. Curse the seal masters...

The boy knew he wouldn't be able to get away from one of the sannin, no matter how fast he ran and how little breaks he took, no matter if he travelled under the ground or through the lakes and seas. If the old man could follow his movements, running was pointless, because sooner or later he'd get tired or be led into the trap. And as he already had a handicap, he thought it wise to keep his pride and admit defeat before such an opponent. It was his own fault he did not check for nature energy users before he took off beyond the barrier.

"And then what? Am I to be reduced to the level of civilian and expected to welcome the change with a smile on my face?" Shiru asked the man behind the bars as he continued to pace around the small, empty save wire decorations, room.

"If that's what it takes to keep you here? Absolutely yes." This time the seal master simply smirked, without gracing the blond with a gaze. It irked Shirushi to be at mercy of the man whose actions he could not predict. With Minato, it was easier. The Hokage so clearly loved him; the thought of keeping Shiru imprisoned led to shock, indignation and argument between the seal masters. As a result though, Minato left to attend to duties with a threat to his sensei, and the said sensei stayed and continued to be creepy, rude and frightening. With a sigh, the boy got back to making circles around the room, trying to ignore the glowing signs above the man's paper that indicated he was closer to the breakthrough.

Watching Naruto pace back and forth like a caged animal made Jiraiya feel guilty, but regardless of how young and innocent the boy looked, he assured himself that the boy was dangerous and possibly, a threat. Who teaches brats to use nature energy? He was twice, no, almost thrice as old when he trained that art and he just barely managed to reach the last stage. If that skill was given to someone so young, that someone must be worth it. Which brought a question, who taught him? A summon clan? Which one? Jiraiya did not have suspicions yet, but it worried him all the more. He did not know what to expect from the little guy that grew up under the villain. Thankfully, when he heard the description of his abilities from Ibiki, who claimed to have done the investigation but never met the boy, he came to conclusion that they better be safe than sorry, and put an alarm on the barrier of Konoha. He highly doubted then, that the skill to go through things was part of negative energy, but this bit of description left impression in his memory, and unfortunately, he was right.

Minato was stupid to believe that his love would keep the kid inside Konoha. He was practically kidnapped from home to strange land, and even with a danger above his head, he'd rather go back to where he was, than trust people he didn't know, or trust people that betrayed him. In that instance, Jiraiya had a picture of Itachi character in mind, one that puzzled him to the point of headache. He didn't know _what_ the former anbu was thinking, but he hoped it wasn't anything funny', though in between the tragedy and comedy, Jiraiya would always chose the latter.

Like a little villain himself, the boy scowled as he made slow, angry steps in the limited space, from time to time glancing at the work Jiraiya made. Curious, as he didn't think the boy could understand the depths of sealing arts he was currently using to create a new useful seal, Jiraiya tried to judge how well the boy could understand what he was doing. He couldn't tell, but had a nagging feeling that he shouldn't underestimate the kid.

Several hours later Jiraiya still had a headache with a sequence of symbols that did not want to be replaced with other, single one, and Shiru was lying in the centre on the floor of his prison, with his limbs thrown in all directions, like a star. The blond was too bored and too tired with boredom to keep watching the sneaky old man, or to inspect the tags that were taunting him from around the above. He opted to reveal his child side and let himself be openly dissatisfied, disappointed and offended with treatment. Dirtying the back of his cloak while relaxing on the floor was just a small cost for letting himself go for a moment. The seal master wasn't talkative, and there wasn't much he could do to amuse himself.

Just for the heck of it, Shirushi inspected his body using his own chakra, directing it smoothly through pathways. He was healthy. He had full reserves. He was bored.

In an act of desperation, the boy tried to gather nature energy inside himself and in limbs, but as he expected, it didn't work.

"_I think I'm gonna grow roots and turn into a tree here. It's the village widely known for its greenery, isn't it? Do they turn into trees out of boredom?"_

_**"People here are widely known as tree huggers, however incorrect that assumption is. ...I doubt you will turn into anything even relatively resembling a plant, though. ...Try to stay in that cage for ten years, then we shall see."**_

The rumbling, echoing voice of Kyuubi gave the answer without the addition of indignation for being addressed, however indirectly. Frowning for a moment, the boy chewed the words again, before he blinked._"Is that an allusion for your own cage I heard? You think me a simpleton for whining about being locked for several hours while you have to bear my free person for years...? Well. I get the point. Don't pout. I got the taste, didn't I?"_

The beast grumbled something incoherent in reply and became silent. So much for constructive conversation. Racking his gears to do something useful, he remembered that he haven't hid the crystal yet. It was in his pocket still, waiting to be placed in secret location. Thank you Kami that his clothes were not touched, otherwise, the sharp equipment would be least of his problems. But back to smart thinking, where to hide the stone? First thought that came from habit was a seal drawn on the skin, to keep it on his person at all times, but new developments said that he would never be able to hide it from seal masters.

Second thought said that he could hide the crystal under his skin, and it was a smart move because the cut would heal itself not leaving a scar, and there were several places that would not be a hindrance, the base of the neck or behind the ear, for example. Again, Konoha being new development, reminded him that any Hyuuga could scan his body, even unintentionally, and see any strange object that found its place in his flesh. That option discarded, he gave a moment possibility to using locations outside of his person, but quickly rejected those, because he could not be sure he'd ever have access to those at all times.

Finally, he had to consider simpler and more dangerous ideas, such as hiding an object in plain sight. Maybe using the stone as an ear ring? Shiru grimaced just slightly. Aside from the picture the thought made, he quickly saw that colour of the stone would have to be changed somehow, to avoid suspicion. Stupid. How about using it as a decoration for his double kunai? Not good either, what if it was broken or taken from him in the middle of a battle? An image of worldwide known medic Tsunade popped in his head, with her forehead sporting a rhombus mark. He could get inspired to openly display the stone on his face in disguise of the technique. Ridiculous.

The boy stifled the groan and urge to punish the floor under him with fists. Why was it so hard to hide one little rectangle shiny stone from people surrounding him? Fingers twitched and itched to grab his hair and pull the strands till there was at least one useful thought. Curiously, it caused him to remember that he had a small, personal collection of scrunchies. What if he hid the crystal under one or two layers of those, or better yet, leave it visible beside similar rectangles of different colours? Obvious, openly seen, and still close on his person.

Still, the thought of hiding the thing in his bone, which he'd have to break to get inside of after cutting through layers of skin and muscle, somehow was equally tempting.

The sound of hurried steps broke the boy from reverie and he turned to see who decided to visit. Jiraiya, who had a better point of view, reacted first and had an expression of mixed fear and disappointment. Curious, Shiru used his sight out of habit, and saw the storming Hokage with the face of fury directing dagger glare at his old sensei. Next moment Minato appeared in the corridor beyond the bars and threw some opened scroll at the man's feet. "I thought you already finished and released my son!" the blond man exclaimed in accusing tone, and grabbed the key from its taunting place on the nail that was shoved into the wall long time ago.

Without any further explanation he entered the cell where Shiru continued to laze on the floor, not really ignoring him but showing that he wasn't happy. The man bent down and hastily pulled out of his inside pocket a brush and a bottle of ink. At the sight of it, Shirushi actually growled. Instead of flinching or retreating, as Shiru expected him to do, Minato smirked and drew a new addition on the side of the boy's neck.

"You're a genius, Minato! How come I didn't catch that part? It's so simple!" Jiraiya shouted comparing Minato's sketch to his own.

"You didn't cause you're old and unreliable." The blond man muttered loud enough for his sensei to hear. His blue eyes found Shirushi's and he gave a tentative smile. A bit of man's chakra that activated another lock travelled through the boy's body in weird sensation and he turned away, feeling a great deal of pity for himself that he could not admit aloud.

Minato grabbed the boy and pulled him up in embrace.

"You're still capable of using nature tricks, this seal will start working only if you pass the barrier." Shiru heard the quiet whisper of the man in his ear. "I want you to be able to protect yourself if you need it." Minato added sincerely and tightened his hold before letting go and donning the previous mask of fury. "We're going home." He declared sharply and pushed his son gently out of the room.

The white haired man nodded absently and rose off the floor. Shirushi settled his expression on relief and hopelessness to keep up with the picture Minato made and gave the old man a disdained glance.

"I'd keep a better eye on him, from now on. He's smarter than you were in that age, and sooner or later, will try to run again." The sennin spoke while keeping a soft smile directed at the pair. The scroll found its place in the man's inner pocket where he patted it few times. And just like that, barely exchanging parting words, they went in separate directions.

Later, he understood why Minato let him keep the skill.

He didn't believe that his son was as safe in Konoha as he could be. That same day he tried to run, few hours later, to be precise, Itachi was attacked by unknown party and if it wasn't for his genius and speed, he'd be gravely injured, or worse yet, already dead. As it was though, the young man was in the hospital, nursing wounds. The worst of those was the left punctured lung, and fractured ribs. Minato claimed there were several motives for assault, but wasn't sure which one played the main role. He had suspicions and wanted Shirushi to be careful, beside the whole squad in the shadows thing.

And now the boy sat in a comfy chair by Itachi's bed, wasting hours and simply thinking. Two stationary guards behind the door did not ask questions, only gave him dubious stares, counting hours he spent in the room. Minato did not object to his choice of wasting time with a sleeping young man, probably assuming that Shirushi cared for him and was worried for his wellbeing. It was true, yes, but only partly. As the code said, it is shinobi's duty to finish the job, and the boy did not doubt for a moment that the assault shall happen again. Reasonably, it wasn't anything in Itachi's possession that they wanted, because the boy was sure any object of someone's interest was already placed in Hokage's care.

The aim was to kill the former Akatsuki member, but for what, and by who, he didn't know, yet anyway. Undisturbed and lonely in the quiet room he let his sight roam beyond the walls of the hospital building, searching for the stationary observer, protector, or hidden enemy. It wasn't hard to pinpoint either of the mentioned. Guards assigned by Minato were part of the squad he already examined and remembered, and few curious shinobi of higher skill appeared rarely, quickly disappearing before their presence was too obvious to others. The enemy, on the other hand, was ridiculously skilled at hiding.

An amazed smile lightened Shiru's serious expression when he solved the puzzle for the first time. It was two days later, after watching and studying the patterns and paths of guards that he came to startling discovery. For one of the anbu representatives, Minato was not the _only_master. He met with other suspicious shinobi after his shift and those, in turn, met with others or disappeared beyond the walls of the village and borders of the boy's sight. He came to conclusion that by extreme talent, someone managed to creep into the most trusted group of people Minato hired. Did that happen often? He hoped not.

Anyway, as he was quite aware of enemy gathering wits and forces for the next attempt, he resolved to be patient and simply wait, not bothering to search for them. Why go after someone who will come on their own? His gaze continued to be distant, directed at the blank, white wall, seeing what only few could see.

Itachi wasn't sleeping all the time. Sometimes he was awake, and each time that happened, he was seeing the same picture, his blonde visitor staring into nowhere. They barely exchanged several words. Seemed Shirushi was busy with something that did not require Itachi's involvement. He knew that look, the boy used the strange skill to see the world around them without moving from his position. It was somewhat connected to his other disturbing skills, but Itachi didn't know the details. He was searching for someone or something, that way. Itachi was not surprised that he did not share with his agenda. Actually, he was used to it, and was ashamed to admit he was a no better example.

Whenever someone entered to check on them, to force the boy to sleep or bring food, Shiru behaved better, unwilling to reveal his distant focus that could put anyone out. But other than those moments of normal response and behaviour, the boy was placing all of his concentration somewhere else.

Itachi did not complain, though waking up in the middle of the night, due to shifting in sleep and pulling stitches which caused pain, only to see the boy _still _sitting in the chair with a vacant stare, would weird out even the maddest of people. This time he woke to the light of day, hearing the sharp sound of someone knocking. A quick scan of surroundings showed the empty room, lonely stationary chair that was not occupied at the moment, and at the corner of his vision the ends of shifting curtains, light blue, that blended with an overall light colour of every element around him. A second later a nurse clad in white uniform with a pretty white hat on top of her head, and a nervous stressful smile stretched on her face walked in. Itachi graced her with a bored glance, inwardly hoping that no medicine was to be handed to him. He had enough of being sleepy and incoherent. Were they testing his mental capacities?

"Morning, Uchiha-san." She started without stammering but her wriggling of hands suggested that she was stressed. "You have a visitor." She stepped aside and a boy walked in. Dark haired, hesitant, with a stare that could pierce through one's soul. He realized it was Sasuke, of course, but the change that overcame his younger brother through the few years that passed was overwhelming. He was easily recognizable but whatever childish posture, spark and behaviour there was, seemed to leave him, where a growing teen was left standing to face the past and the future. Mentally comparing the boy he saw standing stiff in the doorframe to the boy that a short time ago sat in the chair beside his bed though, Itachi thought he'd rather accept an angry, confused and lost teenager than a mad, unpredictable and powerful child that could intentionally and unintentionally wreck chaos wherever he was.

The door closed and his visitor made a step forward slowly.

Having memories of his own rebellious thoughts and episodes that thankfully passed, quietly without public knowledge- meaning anyone who could be a possible witness, Itachi came to conclusion that if he tried hard enough, he could fix whatever rift he'd built between them. But the question was, did he want to?

...

Sometimes the best defence was offence.

Shiru wouldn't mind too much if the group of hired shinobi attacked Itachi again but he definitely would have minded if that group killed him or went after Shirushi himself. So, before that actually happened, he kept an eye on their movements and decided to get rid of the problem before it arose.

The most interesting character was the fellow that pretended to be a genin. The blond did not remember the name but was sure that he met this person and no other when touring Konoha. Despite being the youngest in the assassin squad, Shiru considered him the highest threat, so he made sure to send this one to after life before the rest. His invisible form that took position was thankfully unnoticed, so smiling deviously in satisfaction, he put his transparent hand through the ribcage and placed the exploding tag as close as he deemed needed to the beating heart. An activating tap and hasty retreat later, it exploded in a beautiful fountain of red while startling the rest of the group.

They were just counting minutes and seconds for the start of the next assault on Uchiha, and now surprisingly, they were targeted themselves. Becoming still and looking around, while ignoring the fallen comrade, the ninjas looked for attacker but could not find him. Suddenly one of them made a sharp twist of his body, and for a second behind him was standing someone else with a blade raised and the tip protruding from under the collarbone. That second was all it took for them to gain focus and direct their attacks at the new enemy.

The thickness of the trees in this area was the best camouflage and Shiru was pretty convinced that it would take ages to stumble upon the battle scene, therefore, he decided to use the opportunity and have fun the best he could. Revealing himself to the group he thrilled in the way their eyes shone with determination through the holes in their masks.

There was no pity for comrades, no vengeance, no fear, just simple purpose and cold attitude. Machines. Their moves were quick and precise; one got close to stab the knife in his neck but bending his body the blond caught the arm that was moving to his previous position and added force behind that move, making the attacker lose balance and follow his own extended arm, while Shiru grabbed another knife from its place on the attacker's thigh and used his double blade to cut through the man's neck, since it was so low now and practically bowing at his side.

The body did not reach the ground before he had to use the new acquired knife to stop the sword from reaching his head, courtesy of the other ninja. Feeling the strong intent from behind he bent, letting the sword continue its descent, and his foot had good access to the stomach of the ninja that wanted to suffocate him with the wire from behind. A split second before the sword reached him and another knife got too close to his personal space, he flickered out of view and material space to change position.

Breathing faster, Shiru found that he missed it. The exchange, the blood, and speed. And having limits like the lack of ninjutsu usage made the experience even better. He caught sight of his first victim healing their body with unnatural speed and sufficiency and it brought a mad grin unto his lips. An opponent that was better at healing than he was? Wasn't it the best challenge? Opting to keep the fellow for the last he brought out the net of paralyzing tags that he found very useful, and made sure to tangle the dangerous man in its confines as discreetly as possible. His move was noticed, of course, but not as fast as to react, and in the next second, he had a yellow ball as hard as steel protecting him from harm that came in form of projectiles, fire and lightning jutsus. A part of his brain noted that this sort of jutsu needed to have separate category from ninjutsu. Accelerated speed, the result of pumping his muscles with chakra, and body transformation should not be categorized as general nin technique.

The ball unfurled after the unsuccessful attacks ceased on coming, and turned into the wide strands of sharp hair, that danced like living tails around the small form of the blond boy. His grin teased the remaining pair of shinobi and the strands played with them, forcing the masked assassins to protect themselves from sharp and quick swipes.

One of them took a deep breath and became still, made several seals about filling his body with earth element and then utterly ignored the threat of hair, revealing that he used a trick to make his body as tough as stone. He proceeded then to rush onto the smaller blond opponent and engaged in the dance where Shiru evaded the strikes of bone crushing fists in order to think of something that could counter the attacks. His strands were sharp, but the man could easily catch one and pull Shiru closer, making him open and vulnerable. Getting in the man's grasp wasn't a thrilling thought. Twisting and angling to avoid the stone man and to keep the other one at length, he came to conclusion that old tricks always worked better.

He stealthily pulled out the tag from his numerous inner pockets and when the man reached out to him he reached out as well, enveloping the man's fist in his palm that held the activated seal. Upon contact, where Shiru flinched at the force behind the punch, the man's hand became normal once again, followed by the rest of his body that steadily lost its stone capacity. Before the change became full though, Shiru used the man's surprise to cut off the arm he held in grasp and to pierce him with the tip of his transformed strand of hair. The death wasn't instant but watching the agony fill the man before it came was quite pleasant. The proof and knowledge that he was better, faster and smarter than the squad of assassins made the blond want to dance in victory. The rush of power, the feeling of superiority always made the day, as his father pointed out sometimes.

The masked figure of the other opponent that still evaded the swipes moved ominously in a circle around the blond, what with all the white masks and black cloaks that hid the body. Shirushi followed the man with hunger in his eyes, waiting for something to surprise him. The last one used technique reminiscent of Kakuzu and it did leave damage, breaking tiny bones in Shiru's hand that was quickly healing. From behind the mask, the eyes of the ninja darted at the bodies of his teammates. The first one Shiru attacked and made explode was actually struggling to free himself, however unsuccessful he was in this endeavour. The blond ignored him for the most part, as subtle glances told him that the fellow was in frenzy, which translated as unfortunate predicament.

The last standing assassin increased the distance to stay out of range. Shiru thought it was a retreat and he didn't like it, the grin he had on his face from anticipation, one he hadn't noticed he sported, disappeared to be replaced with anger and disappointment. In tune with his mood, the tails of strands stopped the merry dance and became the waves of patience and threat. The ninja started flickering in a very quick motion around their small battle area, using the advanced body flicker technique, and Shiru saw with delight, that the guy simultaneously used hand seals while trying to confuse him with his change of positions. A curious build of chakra started forming inside the stomach and lungs of the man, and the blond stayed still as he followed the man's moves with amusement. His eyes were receiving images fast enough to keep the opponent in sight. Analyzing the structure of the jutsu he was about to see, he assumed it was about air or fire, as he lost glimpse of few hand seals, but a distinct colour of the chakra prepared him for what the enemy had in mind. Almost too late, he remembered that he didn't have as many variations of countering as before, since he could not use techniques outside of his body, so Shiru grimaced at the only escape he had.

The flickering started becoming annoying when it stopped with a wide dark cloud that came in exhale from the ninja's mouth that was uncovered by pulling the mask sideways. An obvious poison, that spread too quickly for it to be a single jutsu. Unwilling to take risks, Shiru took residence in negative side of reality, and observed how the assassin planned to survive himself. Surprisingly the man inhaled the poison mixed air and exhaled the deadly cloud again, surrounding himself with it as if it would protect him. As far as Shiru saw, the poison had no shielding properties, but he could agree that if spread wide enough, it would stop any other shinobi from approaching. He prepared a well sharpened kunai and considered the weak points in the man's body and guard with a head tilted to the side, when he heard a cough from somewhere beyond the dark fog of their surroundings.

He was stopped in his tracks as his thought process hinted that it did not come from the mostly paralyzed first to fall fellow, and Shiru concluded that it was someone not included in the party. A frown marred his features as he decided to be done with his business before he was interrupted. He got closer to the poison user that was taking a moment to breathe and took a good aim at the back of his head. For the throw to work he materialized again, being careful to not step in the cloud that obscured them from general view from the other side, and went for the kill. It was even sad that the man did not feel his death approaching, did not bend or twist, but let the projectile take his life.

Movement stopped, even poison in the air became frozen, sounds left and all became still as Shinigami translucently appeared from nowhere and in mute silence devoured the souls of the killers. The blonde boy wondered if they had tasteless souls. After all there wasn't much life left in them when he faced them.

When notification came through the branches of information chain from detection division, Kakashi was the quickest to react and rush over to the suspected area of the battle. He realised that sensei was even faster because the Hokage was already there, looking puzzled at the violet poison mist in the air. The place was the deep part of the forest that was turned into park by the hospital. Whoever fought here planned a quick skirmish away from the public eye. There was not much sound coming from the mist so with an exchange of glances the pair assumed that the battle was over. Something must've got in his air Kakashi thought as he coughed and made several steps back. The poison was spreading further than it was visible to the eye, it seemed.

Minato cautiously moved away as well and used a concentrated wind chakra to get rid of the polluted air in the area. The stream quickly cleared the view, to reveal bloodied bodies, one after the other, of masked individuals Kakashi saw to be anbu members at first glance, but then recognized as shinobi of Ne, due to revealed parts of attire. One though, which was unmasked, reminded him of Guy's student. He looked up further to see the fourth body falling with a dull thud, only to reveal the blonde boy that stood somewhat further behind. His face was full of surprise, so probably he did not expect the cloud of poison to disperse so fast. Seeing the handle of kunai sticking out of the back of the head of the fallen Ne, Kakashi raised a brow at the boy. _No way_, was a first thought, then, _well shit_, was the second. He could not come to terms that little guy could be the cause of the carnage. Minato-sensei, on the other hand, apparently did not care, for he rushed to the boy and frantically inspected him for injuries while bewildered child observed his actions. Kakashi decided that sensei could take care of his son while he would study the scene.

Three of the four shinobi where dead, their end a mix of creativity and classic, with one of them being recognized as active anbu operative. One was unconscious, and appeared to be trapped in interesting tags. A pair of anbu members joined him and gathered evidence before attending to bodies. Lack of standard anbu tattoos and faces he did not identify as current members in black ops service proved that they dealt with the overpowered squad of Ne and had a traitor in their ranks. Despite having left the group, he was still quite aware of the current members. The scene was steadily secured while Kakashi gave discreet glances to the pair of blonds that appeared to have an argument.

Minato ignored the bloody surroundings and fell on his knees before the smaller blond as he grabbed his arms and examined him for any injuries. There were red and dirt stains on his clothes, hands and even in his hair, but other than that he appeared to be unharmed. "What have you gotten yourself into?" the man muttered under his breath and at last looked the boy in the eyes as he held Naruto's face in his palms. A very befuddled boy stared back at Minato silently inquiring about his actions. His shock was so apparent that at first the Hokage could not understand why his son behaved so strangely. "Are you still scared? Did they threaten you?"

The violet eyes widened further and with a raised brow the boy seemed to come out of his stupor. "You actually think that I was attacked, don't you? It wouldn't even occur to you that I initiated the fight."

"What are you talking about?" Minato frowned. Surely Naruto could not be willingly involved in this battle. "Haven't you defended yourself?"

The boy laughed slightly, incredulously. "Uh, of course I did. Offence, defence, all the regular stuff..."

Wondering if perhaps the boy was upset now, Minato moved to envelop him in a hug. "Naruto..."

Confused violet eyes became cold and focused at once. "It's Shirushi." The man did not finish the action and worriedly waited for the boy to do or say something else. "You just ignored the squad of your fallen shinobi and immediately, mistakenly assumed that I was attacked? I just killed them. ...I'm not the victim here." The last sentence was said in a pleased and satisfied tone that moved something in Minato. He was speechless and didn't know what to say. Really, it wouldn't come to mind to even imagine that Naruto, ...uh, Shirushi would ambush a squad of shinobi. Whatever for? "So, what do you think now, Minato-san? Have that changed the view of your world yet?"

The man opened and closed his mouth several times before he managed to produce sound. "It... it doesn't matter. What's important is that you're safe and unharmed." His voice was sincere and so full of love that it made the boy cringe, and feel nauseous.

"Do you hear what you say? I'm a freaking murderer and you claim it doesn't matter?" Shiru asked disbelievingly. He moved away from the kneeling man with a deep frown. "What is wrong with you?"

Minato's face became stern. "If this is your way of discouraging me than you are mistaken. I care for you far more. I don't care if you're capable of killing people and have no sense of right or wrong, I am ready to fight that and change that, all the while protecting you from harm. You're my son. The one in the whole world. Nothing's going to change that fact, nor my love for you." The response was vehement and gave no room for doubt. It was confession about priorities in the man's mind. He was ready to place his child on top of everything and disregard many things, even the obvious fact that his child was no innocent baby.

For the most part, Shirushi thought it ridiculous and unwise. He should be treated like an enemy, be imprisoned and questioned, not protected from all harm like a royalty. It felt like cheating. He was so ridiculously precious that he could do no wrong in the man's eyes and everything had excuse. On the other hand, it was incredible to find himself loved and accepted without borders and limits. Unlike with father, where he had to prove himself skilled, loyal and worthy, here with Minato Shiru found himself cherished regardless. So different from what he was used to. It could not be true. The Naruto Minato wanted to see did not exist. And he would not appear if the man tried hard enough as he probably convinced himself to. This relationship and family Minato tried to build was unreal, could not form even if the man imagined it would. Minato had to see the truth, hate him even, for not becoming the person he could be. It was the only way for Shirushi not to become a traitor in his father's eyes.

"I'm touched." The boy replied, disdain apparent. "But that in no way changes how I see you. You must be crazy to not see me for who _I _am. A _monster_. That grand display of love will not turn me into the victim of circumstance."

For a moment Minato was lost for words but just before the boy rolled his eyes he managed to bring out some sound. "I don't... I mean, I have no plan to turn you into anything, and am not blind... completely. You might be an accomplished ninja but... for me you'd always be my child. Not my little baby, because you're certainly no little anymore, but still, not an adult, all independent and self-sufficient on your own."

Even finding truth, sweet in taste in that speech, the boy shook his head and made slow steps away from the Hokage, closer to the bloody scene. "Whatever you feel better believing in. Now, are you going to question me or are you letting me go? That also might be the best moment to point out that you have traitors in your closest circle of subordinates."

The man rose at last and gently put a hand on the boy's shoulder, ignoring the hard gaze that was soon directed at his appendage. "Questioning, yes. Letting you go? Only with a squad of trusted people. And yes, I know of some and am not sure if I should feel happy you knew and got rid of them, or livid that you knew and went and got rid of them." He gave a pointed look down. "See, a complex dilemma."

"You're the Hokage." Shiru shrugged, "surely you can deal with it."

Minato sighed and nodded. "So, what was your motive?"

...

Life in Rice was like a fairytale.

People rose from poverty to wealth, from ill to healthy and from war to peace that was heaven in comparison to what was in their memories. Smiles and satisfaction were painted on their faces, so adding creases and fear in rising dose was called for, in Madara's opinion. They got too comfortable, especially the old friend that ignored Akatsuki for far too long. Really, if Orochimaru planned to disappear off the face of the earth to avoid collision with his former group of colleagues, he should've found a hole far deeper and farther than this one. But he must've had reasons, beyond Madara's understanding, of course.

He got comfortable on top of the closet that was in the drawing room. The house was medium in size and too simple to ever associate with the scientist, but Orochimaru himself was not the same as before as well. He even changed his own name, something Madara haven't anticipated, after all, the man was quite proud of the previous one.

All around the village and beyond its walls, people were frantic as they searched for a lost boy. The pretty sight of chaos as crowds digged the earth and got to the bottom of lakes like hard working ants made the day. It managed entertaining Madara as he waited for the right moment to reveal himself. Appear too soon and you'll have no effect on them, appear too late and they'll have had time to make tons of plans for your eventual appearance. The middle ground had to be found just to make the whole process easier. Like now, when Orochimaru was pacing in front of the house while giving orders to his people. The day and a half passed since they started searching, and since there was no trace to be found, the man and his subordinates became frustrated. The mother of the boy made an impression of the woman that expected this to happen, sooner or later. There was little hope in her, even though she kept quiet as Orochimaru made promises. ...Such a caring person he appeared to be.

At last, the Sound leader walked into the house looking for the papers and maps, only to be met with the sight of visitor, of course.

Madara loved to look down on others, so as he was treating the top of the closet as his temporary throne, he expected at least a drop of trepidation to be visible on Orochimaru's pale face. As it was though, his presence was utterly ignored by former member and he was left gazing after the hasty form of the man. One blink, another, and all he got was the barked speech coming from the study.

"Whatever you want leave it for later. I am too busy right now to deal with you or whoever you represent."

Very gracious and clever of him, Madara thought. No insult but no courtesy either. But such a rebuke would not satisfy anyone. How did he plan to deal with insistent guests?

"I know you're busy, I made sure you were." He replied calmly in general direction of the study, to be met with silence. In that pause Madara propped his head on the palm of right hand, letting a lazy and thoughtful pose be the sight that greeted Orochimaru as the man walked back into the drawing room. Wary and enraged expression the man had at that moment did not suit Orochimaru he remembered, though. He expected cautiousness but also recklessness and confidence from the genius that for years proved to be a pain for elemental countries. Did he really lose memories as reports said, or was just good at acting?

"Meaning...?" the pale face rose up inquiringly and Madara let both of his brows rise in astonishment of the man's acting skill behind the mask. Maybe that boy was Orochimaru's son in reality? Some soap story no one knew, scientist without bounds finds that he's a father, stages his own disappearance, changes a name and goes back to the woman he loved. Well, too many holes in that story design, but something had to explain this fierce protectiveness that was born in the madman. Lost memories was definitely too easy.

"Meaning that I have something of yours. And will give you that back in exchange for something else." Simple as that. He made sure to use casual tone to rile the man up. Ignore the graveness of the situation, it always worked.

"Prove it to me." Orochimaru replied quickly, his voice cold.

Madara nodded sagely. "An expected demand, quite ordinary in these circumstances." He abandoned his thinking pose and reached into the inner pocket of his cloak. His deliberately slow movements built the tension and he found he felt pity that he did not cut off the boy's fingers, or better yet, the whole hand. It would've worked well to make Orochimaru grovel before him, but he thought it wasn't worth the risk of having the creative scientist bite him later. Instead, he retrieved the item that seemed quite special to the eye. First revealed was the handle, smooth and shiny, made of bone, and then a case, made of colourful scales that reminded much of snakes. With tenderness, Madara held the sheathed weapon in his hands letting Orochimaru recognize it. "That was on his person, attached to silver belt."

The man's gaze burned as he stared at the object and he fisted his hands, his breaths coming in short pants. "That... is not a proof you know where he is. You could've simply found it."

The Sound leader clearly did not believe it but for some reason he was defiant. "If you see him and know where he is it somehow kills the purpose of kidnapping the kid, you know?" He played with the weapon a bit and rubbed the pretty scales.

"What if he's injured, or... if he's dead? The bargain has no sense, then." He clearly did not believe that either, but continued to barter regardless. Was that a natural reaction or stalling for time? A quick scan of surroundings said that no one eavesdropped nor observed the house.

"Fine, your insistence is worth the prize. Let us take a look at boy wonder." Madara relented at last. Shifting a bit in his position on the closet, he tilted his head and let the hole in dimension appear right by the corner of the room. It uncurled revealing the grey world of blocks and metallic cage that held the child within its shiny structure in a distance. Orochimaru rushed to the image but it swirled back into nothing, leaving the man with a tease that should work as good motivation. "A-ah, no cheating, my friend. Surely you remember that it is I who always set the rules of that game?"

"I don't know and don't care who you are." The snake man spat. "What do you want?" Now his voice said that he believed in Madara's claims and was ready to part with anything only to have the boy back.

"Just one little jutsu, that's resting in your head." Uchiha smiled courteously under the mask, hoping that despite the barrier it created, the man would interpret his point correctly. Seriously, he'd never believe the scientist forgot who he was, even if he knew only the Toby from Akatsuki. The man's knowledge was the most precious thing in the world to him. He prized it so much that he rarely shared it with anyone.

Orochimaru raised a brow incredulously and then shook his head. "It better be a recent jutsu, because I certainly cannot remember the past."

With a scowl, Madara threw the pretty weapon aside with a careless move and gracefully jumped down."Doesn't matter. Whether you 'remember or not' I am getting what I want. I can even remind you where else that jutsu is. After all, your precious secrets are always in the reach of your hand. Why don't you summon a snake that keeps a trunk with your secrets protected and open it with a key that is conveniently hidden around your neck?" For a better emphasis, Madara pointed at the pale man's chest.

Almost unconsciously, Hakujin reached for the necklace, parting his lips in surprise. He didn't think that anyone would know about it, because not even Sound Four mentioned anything of the sort. That meant that either he had given that information to Akatsuki before losing memories, or its members were truly good about gathering it. Considering that his nature was quite selfish and he didn't like sharing with deepest of knowledge, the man thought that the second option was far more believable.

Either way, it wasn't like some jutsu was worth more than Yuusen's life. Going through necessary hand seals, he cautiously summoned the snake, not taking his eyes off the masked intruder. He was aware that he used to work with organization that man represented, but he hoped all ties were severed along with memories. Continued silence from the group convinced him that this part of the past was over with, but like others, it came to bite him.

The smoke dissipated to reveal a chest that was covered in tight knots created by the body of dark green snake that hissed softly at the summoner. Hakujin noted that the intruder became visibly giddy at the sight of the summon and wondered how much the man knew about its contents. He got closer and petted the serpent gently. The animal moved its body sensually off the prized possession and the masked intruder motioned with his hand for Hakujin to open it. The move was theatrical and inviting, unnecessarily, really.

Glaring but silent, he reached for the key on the cord around his neck, one he wasn't sure he was happy to keep, and tearing it off, did not hesitate before opening the trunk. He pulled the lid up revealing the contents and made two steps away. "Go on."

He could almost see the grin that spread behind the mask as the man hopped to the trunk and waved his fingers over the surface. Then quickly, as if he knew which one it was since the beginning, he grabbed one of the scrolls and lifted it in the air, triumph written over his gesture. He pivoted on his heel and his image started to whirl making a surreal picture. "Hey wait!" Hakujin shouted seeing that the man would disappear, afraid that he'd leave without giving back the boy. But another swirl in the air revealed a cage he saw earlier, and all his thoughts screamed to open it ignoring the unwanted, leaving guest.

He did just that, frantic with worry, afraid that the man hurt Yuusen to abduct him.

It wasn't hard to break the cage, and lots of grabbing and checking later, he confirmed that the boy was unharmed, just shocked and scared. He enveloped him in a hug, hoping that this act from organization would never repeat itself. The pieces of the cage turned into dust, revealing that it was created by an earth elemental technique.

The boy whispered that he was fine, but Hakujin did not believe him. The trembles in the small body proved that Yuusen only tried to seem unbothered.

Quick steps entering the room forced Hakujin to turn and look who came into the house at last. His subordinate stayed silent, watching the pair in concern.

"I want you to gather all the information on Akatsuki organization that can be found, Haku." Hakujin spoke quietly, "This is about our safety. Looks like the past is still going to hunt me."

The young dark haired male frowned, losing a shadow of relief that was on his face. But quite soon, the expression was replaced by determination and after an immediate nod he disappeared.

...

_Konoha_

The double doors were opened as various high standing faces entered the room. Many gave single, silent nods to the Hokage who was sitting at the round table waiting for the summoned to gather. His body was leaning on the wooden surface as his heavy head was propped on the palm of right hand. Blue eyes were not bright, but bored and lazy, therefore most assumed that the reason for the call had to be a case of formality. As usual, the attendants arranged themselves at the table as it suited them, being careful about proximity of friends and enemies. It seemed to bore the village leader even more, which caused several glares to be directed at his person.

When the guards outside closed the doors, Minato lazily straightened and gave a searching look to his guests.

Hiruzen played with his pipe as he had a habit as of late to do, Tsunade stared ahead of her, visibly not really sober; she was dragged to the gathering by Shizune. Homura frowned in disapproval despite the lack of any topic raised yet, Koharu was attentive, though her squinted lids made it seem she was asleep, Danzo was patient and haven't twitched even when Minato continued to stay silent, and clan heads had different inquiring expressions. Hiashi tapped his fingers on the top of the table so gently that the move seemed casual, but anyone who personally knew the man read it as irritated monologue.

Shibi might have blinked behind his glasses but Minato wasn't sure, even the tassel on those did not make a move when the man breathed, so whatever his expression was, it stayed indecipherable. Umino was the only cheerful person in the room, probably because the gathering was still a novelty for him, since he became the advisor responsible for education in Konoha just two weeks ago. The rest of council members did not share his positive mood and attempted to keep their indignation hidden, but their patience was wearing thin.

"Thank you all for coming today." The blond started softly. "For the start I'd like to keep with the protocol and ask if anyone has objections to our participation in chuunin exams that will take place in Suna several months from now." He made a lazy circle with his eyes and, noting that no person spoke up, gave a nod. "Then, let us discuss the upped security and risk from the Akatsuki organization. I understand that there were no sights of its members in our country to confirm the existence of threat, but nonetheless, the danger is there and I want Konoha to be prepared."

"If you haven't had welcomed its targets, Leaf wouldn't have been endangered by Akatsuki at all." Danzo pointed out, speaking quietly but sternly, in firm belief that Minato made a mistake.

An icy glare the blond gave to the room as a result took this argument off anyone's tongue. They of course knew why the man accepted the fugitives, and could not deny that the deal he made was rewarding as well as consequential.

"We don't know much about the members, but few we're currently aware of are high ranked ninja capable of facing large and experienced groups of shinobi to win, and to survive." The head of Nara clan gave the topic direction, hoping to ease the tension that continued to rise.

Hiruzen nodded wisely, "then we should direct part of our resources to gather more details about people that work in and for this group."

"In the meantime the patrols on the borders will be doubled, and once the data is ready, we'll form the specialised squads." Minato added. "Any other suggestions?"

"Why not buy the information we need?" Tsunade spoke up suddenly, her voice sleepy. "Rumours say that the base of organization is in Rain village, surely a bag of coins can loosen some tongues."

Iruka's face looked surprised at her suggestion and brightened even more. "A very smart move, Tsunade-san. They say the situation in Ame is still poor. Money is always good motivation."

The Yondaime nodded. "We will certainly try that."

Various sounds of agreement resounded in the room, only to be followed by silence. Minato became thoughtful and while most of the attending already were eager to leave, no one dared to wake him from apparent reverie.

Hiashi tapped the table surface again, using rhythm that was not recognizable to anyone but him. Councilmen exchanged glances, and then, seeing that the Hokage was lost in his own world, Homura coughed once, quite loudly.

Startled, the blond man flinched and gave attention to the room. They stayed quiet, ready to be dismissed, but the silence stretched as the serious face of the blond man lazily turned from one advisor to the other. His gaze was considering and calm, despite the occasional shifting that caused the creak in chairs. After a minute part of the group became uncertain and the weariness skyrocketed when Minato made a wide smile spread on his face and addressed all the people at the round table.

"I know that you're ready to leave and it seems the meeting is done, but before we part I want to address a certain issue." He clapped his hands once, and behind three of the guests in the room appeared masked shinobi. Each had a knife pressed to the neck of their target. "One of the main rules in shinobi world is to act first, and ask questions later." He motioned with a nod and quite quickly, the advisors Mitokado and Utatane had their lives ended before they knew the reason why. Several seconds later, after struggling to rise off the chair and push the arm of attacker away, Danzo fell as well, his hands still grabbing for neck.

The spray of blood did not make impression on the rest of attending, but their shocked expressions could be attributed to the fact that no one assaulted the members of council at the gathering before. Most gave Minato slow, weary, inquiring looks that spoke of bewilderment, while the room became deadly silent. The Hokage took everyone by surprise, therefore no one rushed to protect the advisors. And by the time they thought to, it was over. Pipe long forgotten, Hiruzen gave his successor, by far the most disorientated look he gave anyone. In response, the blonde man shifted in his chair for a comfortable position and continued in the same tone he used mere moments ago. "In certain circumstances, it is better to ask for permission first, before doing something... something like a slaughter on Uchiha clan."

A couple of gasps joined the tension and several people looked at the dead with new emotion. The Sandaime opened and closed his mouth several times but produced no sound.

Exchanging glances again the councilmen could not decide how to react or how to break the silence. Minato graced them with disturbing smile before he gave his attention to Hiruzen. "You should have shared their fate."

Tsunade, who sat by Sarutobi all that time with a bleary gaze, leaned away from her sensei, but then on the other side noticed the growing puddle of blood on the table that came from Danzo's slumped body. She scowled and shifted her chair for her position to be away from either.

"I've lost much of respect for you, but what is left of it is the reason you're still alive." The village Leader added, giving an apologizing grin to the woman. Tsunade blinked but stayed silent, her expression clear and cautious. "The case is old and details came to light when there isn't much to change. Nonetheless, I want to impress upon you the idea of punishment for such a thoughtless, barbaric and inconsiderate act." Minato said quietly, addressing the room.

The Sandaime's face fell and visibly became older. Councilmen gulped and coughed but none gave response. Minato's subordinates that carried the assault remained motionless statues by the walls, making others forget their presence. Hiashi found few drops of blood on his person and unsuccessfully tried to wipe them away by handkerchief, it gained the attention of half the table as most avoided a possibility to look Minato in the eye.

A loud "Hmmm..." that came from the Yondaime caught the weary glances, but he was busy observing the features of Danzo's face, that did not resemble the man as they were supposed to. In place of the dead advisor was a corpse of young unrecognizable man. Minato gracefully went closer and inspected it, touching the hair, studying the arm and eye that were previously covered by bandages. "All the work wasted...I wasted nights on this paralyzing chair..." He muttered as he came to conclusion the man was not Danzo but skilfully took his place on the charmed chair that ensured the elder's death. "Get this one for examination." The Hokage ordered the shinobi in masks and straightened. He tilted his head then and gave councilmen a searching look that made several people cringe. Aburame was the only member unaffected by attention. As a result, even Shikaku and Tsunade squirmed in their seats, eager to get to other business and forget this one. "The meeting is adjourned. You are all free to go. Please keep today's events in mind."

On that morbid note, councilmen shuffled their feet to the doors, darting their eyes away from the bloody picture. Sarutobi was the last to rise but Minato did not stay to exchange words with him or explain his reasoning further as he was prone to do in the past. It left the Third Hokage feeling all the more older, with weight of mistakes and choices pulling him down to the ground.

...

Reaching the end of the empty corridor, Tenzo stopped and faced the glass. He folded his arms adopting a serious posture, but his tense shoulders showed that he wasn't looking forward to what awaited him.

"It's a torture, we just got back from another freaking useless spying mission! There wasn't even a drop of blood involved! And now what? Another useless watch?" Anko complained, joining her partner by the glass. Tenzo gave her a side glance but did not comment audibly. His soundless sigh and fallen corners of the mouth spoke enough about his opinion, though. The lights went on, and behind the glass appeared a white room with a square table and a pair of chairs.

No one entered for several long moments and Anko started to shift from one foot to the other. "I wanna pee." She whined quietly, almost to herself, but as she did that aloud, she didn't mind that Tenzo heard her.

He slowly turned to her, and then suddenly had a flashlight in hand, directed at his face, revealing sinister black eyes that glared at Anko.

She pitifully looked up having a pout on her face like a child, and complained again. "It's not working on me anymore..."

The anbu inhaled sharply and placed the flashlight back wherever he kept it, disappointed but quiet, and then folding his arms again, got back to looking through the glass. As if nothing happened and nothing moved him.

Anko continued to sway but tried to show interest in the empty room in front of them. It was better than focusing on her predicament and the fact that both of them were dead on their feet, hungry and tired. Besides, Tenzo promised to celebrate her promotion to anbu operative by taking her out for some good food, and she couldn't wait to remind him of it. Well, he wasn't exactly sober when he mumbled that part, but she was good at using things like that.

At last, the door to the room opened and a masked shinobi walked in, leading the blindfolded boy. Anko tilted her head in puzzlement at the sight, surprised that the child she haven't met was led into the interrogation room. Wordlessly, the mask wearing operative made the boy take a sit by the table and placed the handcuffs behind the chair, for safety measure. Which made Tenzo rise his brows quite high. The blindfold was taken off and the escort walked out.

Too calm for it to be natural, the boy blinked and looked up, right at the glass, that should've looked like a mirror from the inside of the room. Strangely, his calculating gaze landed on the pair in the corridor, who flinched at the contact. Before anything else disturbing happened, the door opened again to admit Ibiki. He had a folder in his hands, and a frown on his face. It wasn't anything new, but his presence still confused the observing pair. Usually when some genin, or even chuunin got to questioning, Ibiki did not take place as interrogator. He preferred hard, interesting cases, or took care of the threat to Konoha. For him to be personally there, the boy had to be a foreigner or traitor to the village.

Instead of greeting the boy or introducing himself, Ibiki opened the file and started reading, making slow, loud, thoughtful steps around the room. The boy gave the man a suspicious, then sceptical look, and gave attention to the man's boots that made the sharp sound. Then he settled at ease in the chair and promptly went to a lazy, careless nap.

Seeing that, Tenzo sweat dropped. Ibiki did not lose composure and after giving several glances to the boy, quite sure he went to sleep to insult him, he threw the files on the table with a loud smack, that startled the blond into jumping.

An icy glare Ibiki received in response made him smirk in self satisfaction. He gracefully took sit in front of the boy and grabbed one of the pages. "Name, Uchiha Shirushi, no existing birth records, under that name."

The blond rolled his eyes.

"Age twelve, again, no official records. Affiliation, and that's interesting, Akatsuki organization. How do you go about entering the criminal organization without any records? No village says you passed shinobi exams."

The blond turned to him and raised a brow. "Who cares about exams? What records? For all we know I'm a civilian."

"Don't mock me." Ibiki growled. "You were found on the battle scene with three corpses..."

"He survived?" The boy exclaimed surprised, and honestly waited a minute for Ibiki to answer. The interrogator on the other hand, couldn't believe the boy's impertinence. He thought he'd face a skilled young ninja, not an arrogant child.

"You mean the fourth victim? Yes, he's still alive, thankfully."

"A victim?" The boy huffed and turned his head away indignantly. "They were the group that attacked Itachi and were ordered to repeat the assault. I simply protected my older brother."

Anko by that time was pointing at the blond and elbowing Tenzo about recognizing their target they've never found. That Morino found him first after all this time made kunoichi feel substandard.

"You could have notified our forces instead of ambushing the squad yourself." Ibiki retorted.

"And where would be fun in that?" Shirushi tilted his head innocently, giving the head of torture and interrogation force a serene smile.

Ibiki was dubious. "Right." He pulled forward one of reports. "Why don't you describe how you proceeded with eliminating the squad."

Shirushi got thoughtful and raised his gaze to the ceiling, as if remembering the details. "Well, I used exploding tags... and classical knives..."

The man pulled out of stack a picture of the head with kunai imbedded on the back of it. "Good aim."

The boy shrugged. "He wasn't lucky. But unlike the earth guy, he went quickly."

Ibiki checked several pages and put forward the one with the bloody torso and separate limb. Unimpressed, Shirushi smiled. He wasn't sure what the man tried to intimidate him for, but did not play along because he didn't feel like it. Besides, behind the mirror was a funny pair of ninja he had pleasure to meet and watching their antics was far more entertaining.

"What did you use to make that hole?" The questioning continued.

The blond turned his attention back to the table and saw the interrogator point at the torn flesh of the torso.

"Something sharp and pointy..." He smiled enigmatically and let his gaze wander away again. It was better than getting bored with the boring man. The scar guy was way too serious.

"Definitely not a knife. The wound is not precise. Dirty work, if you ask me." The man commented, changing tactic and using insult on the boy.

Shirushi noted the change in direction quickly, and though he knew why the man chose to offend him, it still hurt his pride. "I was having fun, not going for the work of art. Besides, all moves and tools are fair in our job."

"If that was having fun I don't think I want to know what having a bad day's like." The older man bit out and leaned back. "You claim to belong in Akatsuki, and name Uchiha Madara as your father. You must be aware that official records say he's long dead."

"I won't go into details about that." The blond gave a cold retort and wondered how far the questioning was supposed to go. He got the impression that Minato only wanted to know about the battle, not go deeply into shadows of Shiru's upbringing. The Hokage wasn't asking much himself and looked to be afraid of truths. He wouldn't leave this area of knowledge to be surveyed by someone else, would he? The doubt caused Shirushi to focus on finding Minato himself. Maybe the man was in the building, observing like the pair behind the glass?

"What details will you go into? I have several topics I wish to discuss. For example, the death of Momochi Zabuza. ...I'm still curious about his demise." The voice of interrogator came from a further distance. Minato wasn't in the building nor anywhere near its surroundings.

"...He had good reflexes." The boy muttered fixing his gaze on the wall on the right, to make it seem like he was lost in thought. In the meantime, his sight was directed at the house where Minato lived, and he searched for the man there.

"That all? He was one of Seven Swordsmen. Surely he did not go down because you were smaller."

_Another insult_. Shirushi gave the man a brief, sharp glance and looked away again. The tactic with angering him seemed to work despite his best efforts to ignore it. "I have more grace and agility." The Hokage was not in the house, though he promised to be there when Shirushi was released from questioning. Maybe he was in his office? That was more plausible.

"Good for dancing, ever thought about ballet?" Ibiki's voice had a hint of derision, it made Shirushi scowl. "No? Ah, pity. Well then, why did you leave his student alive? See a trend in here? Witnesses isn't good for business you know."

The office was not occupied either, but one chamber in the Hokage building in particular gathered all the important faces. Shiru wanted to pout at the notion of being abandoned in favour of crowd of old men. "...He was pretty." They did not argue and their predicament seemed even worse than his own, until he saw shinobi step further and bare their blades.

"It isn't reason enough, is it? Or maybe you were so busy admiring his beauty that he managed to get away."

Bodies slumped on the wide table, blood was flowing in streams. Violet eyes opened wide in awe and interest. "...Admiring beauty is my favourite... pastime when I'm not busy... dreaming about slaying someone's throat." He was surprised Minato orchestrated something of that magnitude. It was awe inspiring, especially reactions he got from the rest of his guests. "...Oh...pretty sights..."

"I feel like I walk in circles and you make fun of me." Ibiki stated, having impression that he was completely ignored. Even if his tactic worked he wasn't sure he'd get more than morbid comments that didn't solve any puzzle.

Shirushi turned back from staring at the wall. "I do. You're boring." His attention was so sudden that the man inhaled and gritted his teeth in frustration.

"I think it's time for a break." The man stood. Then he made two steps to the door. He abruptly appeared at Shirushi's face with a raised pointing finger. "But I'm not done yet." Giving that message and hoping it was promising, he walked out.

Behind the glass Tenzo sighed and looked at the other side of the corridor, waiting for Morino to appear and tell them they were free to go. He might not appear, yes, but if he wished for it hard enough, possibly it would happen.

"Is it over? Can we go?" Anko whined and shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

"I don't know. I don't think so. But I do hope so. It cannot last forever. The day should be finally over. I think..."

"Sometimes you're creepy, woodman." She leaned away.

"What did I say about nicknames, Anko?" His voice was stern, like that of a father speaking to a child.

"Not to use them in public?" Her tone was hopeful.

Tenzo sighed. "Whatever."

The blond in the room started whistling and gave a pair a brief grin, causing a group cringe.

As he was an experienced anbu, Tenzo shrugged the effect off, literally. "it isn't working on me."

"But it does on me."

"I think I taught you well, Anko. You'll survive. He's just a morbid boy." He nodded to himself in assurance.

"I know."

"Sometimes they manage to work a perfect expression to leave an impression, is all." He continued, using a soft tone to ease the nerves of kunoichi. He forgot that she was still fragile, ...around the edges.

"I know."

"Just a couple of minutes longer and we'll be free to have some rest. I can even insist we give the main report and this little observation a day later." Tenzo added, feeling very generous.

"I know." Anko's voice was high in pitch and desperate. Her movements now also resembled a dance of the snake, rather than casual shifting. "...but I still wanna pee..."

End of chapter 17

* * *

_**A. N.** I'm not dead, I'm busy._


	18. All was done in the name of God

**A. N.** As someone helpfully pointed out, the update is rare and it's good to give a

**Preview**

before you get to read the new chapter. So,

* * *

Shinigami helped seal the Kyuubi, but instead of taking Minato's soul and life, he took away Naruto, who was mere hours later found by Madara.

Madara adopts the child, sort of, and calls him Shirushi, due to doujutsu he presumes the boy to have.

In fourth chapter, Shirushi is kidnapped by Hyouton users that ran from Mist. He's saved by Madara and after that lives with Akatsuki.

For years Minato tries to find his son, even when Jiraiya stops believing he's alive.

The clan of foxes erases Madara from their contract and accepts Shirushi as their summoner. They teach him the use of negative nature energy.

Shisui plays large role in the Uchiha massacre. Itachi still joins Akatsuki, and starts to pay attention to the blonde boy.

He finds that Shirushi is Namikaze Naruto.

Shirushi engages Zabuza in a fight and after killing him finds that his Uzu family signed a contract with a Shinigami. Each time he kills someone, he may 'make a wish', but not ask for life, neither for death. After the fight he lets Haku live.

Kakashi becomes a jounin sensei for Neji, Lee and Tenten. A year later Guy becomes a jounin sensei for Sasuke, Sakura and Kabuto.

At some point Shirushi takes away Orochimaru's memories – when the man confronts Itachi, to be exact. Orochimaru starts a new life in Rice and becomes Hakujin.

When facing Killer Bee, Shirushi's nature as Kyuubi jinchuuriki is revealed. Madara is shocked speechless for a long time. Itachi acts on impulse and whisks the boy away from the base, to ask Minato for help later.

In Konoha, Minato seals their chakra – Itachi's and Naruto's – and promises them his protection.

Itachi is attacked by unknown group, and while he's in a hospital Shirushi ambushes the squad that was ordered to kill Itachi.

So, these were most crucial details.

Also,

* * *

Ages:

Naruto/Shirushi – 12

Minato – 36?

Madara – 100?

Sasori - 32

Itachi – 17

Kakashi – 27?

Neji, Lee, Tenten – 13

Ibiki – 27

Haku – 15

Karin – 13

Kabuto - 19

* * *

The mantle of Beta Reader belongs to **Warrior of Sangre **

****so thank her for good grammar!

Prologue

The concept of exchange appeared so long ago that it's doubtful anyone could be aware of the date. It could be born in ancient times from the simple need for something and pain that came from parting with something as well. Before humans created the concept of money, the idea of exchange was a natural, most common thing.

For the people of the past, giving and taking was a moral rule and as easy as breathing. Sometimes you had to feed the animals and let them reproduce before the time came for hunting. Sometimes you had to make a pact with other tribes and work with them, to survive. If one was sharing food with you, you had to share robes or weapons. Then, if someone hurt you with a fist, you had a right to give back the same. If someone hurt you with a word, you had a right to fight back with the same. Blood for blood, an eye for an eye, favour for a favour and loyalty for two.

A life for a life.

Rega did not think of these details as she helped her brother wrap the body of his five years old daughter in clean cloth. The body was cold at the touch and it was strange to realize that it belonged to a happy, hyperactive girl that was running around the place many days ago. It didn't seem so, just looked like an object, a dead object. Though her experience with the process of funeral was growing, Rega could not get used to the small bundles that were prepared for fire. Each time she was close to one, she unwillingly imagined that it was her son there, lifeless, quiet and so cold.

Using dry leaves, twigs and pieces of wood for fire, the crowd of family members gathered around the makeshift bed and watched the growing flames. Eighth child in three weeks. If they were burying them instead of burning, the sight of that field would definitely make her nauseous each time she walked by. But in a year or two, this place would look as it always did, without the scorched marks.

You had to fight the curse with fire. It should not make the root in earth, should not spread through water and air.

Children always played on the bank of the river, or by the edge of the forest. They instinctively knew where to go and where not to go. What to touch or taste. Who to avoid. Where to hide.

Whatever managed to bite them or cling to one to spread onto the others was a mystery. First it was appearing as a headache, then vomiting, and then retching and coughing out blood. As a result, only two of the kids were still alive.

The healers of the tribe tried all the medicines they knew, all the plants and prayers. Desperate, the parents even went deep into the forest to ask the spirits for help, but all they did was give advice, to leave these lands and find home somewhere else, away from the poison that reigned here.

The tribe believed the words of the spirits and then, when her son was the only child still alive three days later, prepared to travel to the West. They prayed that Gods be kind to them and let them have children again.

Seeing the suffering of her child and how thin the boy became, the healers offered to help him reach the other side, but Rega refused. It's not like she had more faith than others, rather, she knew that she was alive for as long as her son was, because if he left her as well, she'd have no strength to live. With him, the line of Colima would die as well. He was the only child of her beloved, Colima the Warrior; she could not bear to agree about letting him go. It was like giving up, accepting the end.

The night before the tribe was to start their trip, she went to the altar, the boulder in the centre of their settlement where elders spoke with ancients and made offers to the Gods. She's never stepped so close to it as she did then, in the darkness of that night. Unwilling to risk someone seeing her, she did not light the fire, and did not scream to heavens. Cautious, Rega brought with her the cape made of tiger's skin that belonged to Colima, and jewellery that she received on her wedding day, a set of necklace, earrings and bracelets. Those were her most prized possessions. There wasn't anything else worthy of attention in her house. She wasn't special in the tribe family. Her beloved was important, respected, strong. But after he passed in the fight for these cursed lands, no one gave her the same attention. Not that she asked for it before. She was the daughter of the weakest people in the tribe family. And just happened to be born the most beautiful. She suspected that some members of the family wanted, waited for her child to die. To have the proof that the boy wasn't special as his parents weren't either.

But she believed otherwise.

Every mother believes her child to be different from others.

She simply wanted her little boy to live.

It wasn't much.

But she couldn't curse the curse. She had no chance of reaching God's ears when the elders couldn't. Standing by the grey stone decorated with flowers and stained dark brown and red from blood of animals Rega felt lost and hopeless. But she was a mother. That believed her child to be important.

She introduced herself timidly, and placed the gifts she brought with her in the hollow of the boulder. She confessed that she was unworthy of addressing the deities. Honesty was her strength in this weakness, she wouldn't lie to herself nor others. She came to die, feeling that death planned to take her child tonight. That meant that she did not want to face tomorrow. A knife for cutting meat in hand, she raised her arm and gulped in fear.

She felt so lonely.

Cold.

No light around her. Boulder dark and a mix of smells, flowers dead, flowers fresh, old dry blood, paint. The earth was wet under her bare feet. It was raining in the evening. Grass was giving off a fresh scent of nature. But her surroundings were not encouraging her. In that moment of indecisiveness, Rega felt tears finally betraying her and escaping past the prison of her lids. She was a weak, desperate, lonely woman. She didn't really have faith, and hope was having no shape nor thought in her soul.

The sharp edge of the knife made a graceless, clumsy slash across her arm. It hurt moments later. But it wasn't deep enough to bleed as she wanted it to. So she made another, and another one, remembering at the last moment that she wanted it to bleed over the boulder. It did. She held the arm forward, with a fist.

She cried.

Don't take my child. Take me instead.

I shall go to shadows if you do not let me go to ancients, I shall go to suffer onward or serve never moving past this point. I shall go wherever you lead me to. A shall forgo all if you let him live. It is always an equal exchange, isn't it? I know I interfere with the order, but I offer my death in place of the other.

Be merciful, Death Deliverer. His time has not come.

She whimpered, and noticing that her arm moved lower, raised it again.

And if you take him still, then take me as well, so I could watch over him places where he goes. So I could bless him trips and trials he undertakes.

Cold. But streams of blood were pleasantly warm on her skin. The tip moved slowly, carefully over the fabric of tunic in search, ..aiming. The grass whispered and her grunt was quiet as knife found its destination in her heart. It hurt for several long, agonizing moments. But she did not scream. Colima never cried out when it hurt, when the enemy tore him apart. She wouldn't scream either. Though she was a weak woman, and no warrior.

The thud of body hitting the ground was dulled, the sky was dark and cloudy. A whisper in the grass was moving in tides, and even reached the fields. The shadows appeared with the morning light, gloomy and mysterious.

Rega's body was found and buried under the boulder. Her family assumed correctly that she gave her death as a sacrifice, for the life of her son, that was still alive. Travelling, the tribe took the boulder with them to continue asking deities for aid. To respect Rega's action, they changed the boy's name to Exchanged, and he was taken in by his uncle.

He wasn't special.

No one remembered his first name, he didn't either.

No different than others, not really expected to do anything grand other than something suspicious. Some members of the family thought him to be the source of all trouble, for denying fate.

But once or twice, Rega's example was followed by others. Who gave their deaths for lives of others. They used the same boulder. Gave their most prized possessions, among them, their warm blood.

And for some reason, Gods listened.

And when Exchanged took revenge from the warrior of the tribe they warred with for a year, Gods listened again. Hostility between travelling families was always born from unwillingness to share lands and water. Sometimes tribes deemed themselves stronger and more worthy of controlling the territory. Exchanged remembered the empty eyes and expressionless face of his uncle, all mourning and orphaned members of his clan as he dragged the half dead body of the vicious enemy. He was proud of the trap and poison he used to win, but it wasn't enough. With words of elders about his mother's sacrifice ringing in his ears, inspired, he took the body to the boulder where he took the man's clothes off, ripped away the jewellery and cut the long strands of hair to place them in the hollow of the stone. Then he proceeded to separate the skin of the man from his own body. Thankfully the knife was sharp, though there was much more blood than he had expected. Far more different than skinning the prey. It didn't stop him though. Hands slippery, he decided to take the skin off in parts, and found it fascinating that drugged by poison his enemy was still breathing, too numb to acknowledge that it was the end.

Women, kids and even elders joined the crowd of tired, still armed men that came back from protecting their land, and watched Exchanged punish his foe in the most gruesome way.

he found his cousin come close and help him put on the slippery, bloody pieces of skin he gathered in the pile by the by now, dead man. Somewhere in the back of his mind Exchanged hoped that the man would still be alive to watch him dance in borrowed skin. But there was no point for wondering. Clothed in nothing else but his enemy, skin hanging where he did not bother to slip in nor stretch it, Exchanged cut and tore the ribcage to get the heart. Still warm.

Reverently, he held it in his palms as someone else dragged the body away from the boulder. One of the elders lit the fire and Exchanged gently put the organ in the same hollow, beside the rest of offerings. He straightened and spread his arms wide. "I give you the death of my enemy! Deliverer, his blood is yours, his soul is yours, his future as well as his knowledge. Accept my offers and give me his strength as well as power to protect this clan!"

All the present reacted in similar way. The warriors raised their weapons and screamed together in a rhythm, the elders nodded and lit more fire, and women clapped to create more noise, to call the Deliverer closer.

"We shall dance in your name tonight!" Exchanged screamed and started the celebration that lasted not hours but days.

Later he found that his strength and speed doubled and even tripled. He always won and soon, the tribe was the sole owner of these lands.

No one repeated the feat of skinning the foe again, and Exchanged became feared and respected like no other.

Then one day, the warm, offered blood on the boulder flowed with its own thought and mind, and drew signs on grey, hard stone. And they offered more blood, and gave their own, and exchanged death for death, life for life, and curse and war for victory. To grow in number and in power, and to sign the contract offering death of other for their own gain. And they discovered power, and shared it in between the few, and they did not go to spirits for advice and protection, but spirits came to them, offering wisdom and support for joined strength.

Until the monster came, to remind them of their arrogance, greed and thoughtlessness.

Chapter 18

All was done in the name of God

_Somewhere_

A drop of sweat fell on the floor, making a dull thud that spread so loudly it seemed the drop weighted a ton. The room was too quiet and too cold.

Pressed hard to the wall, the poison maker noted that his feet did not touch the ground, and he was held up by one hand, that kept tightening around his throat. He tried to look under the dark grey hood of the attacker but all he could see was darkness and emptiness, as if the cloak covered the empty space, giving it an unseen shape and form. Either the room was getting darker, or his vision was worsening around the edges. Just a bit longer and he'd lose consciousness, out of fear or lack of air.

First, a rush of freezing air entered his workroom. It shouldn't be possible because he was under the ground and protected by the labyrinth of corridors with barely an access to fresh air. Then strange, inhuman whispers appeared to gradually become louder and closer from outside. There was a thought in his head that someone might play tricks to fool him for fun, but a small part of him was scared that it could be a victim seeking revenge and fear made him lock the door and hide in the corner, in hope that whatever was outside would not find him and leave. He was too scared to move out to the secret passage and run to the closest village.

And then the door opened, slowly, easily, as if there was no lock at all, and he saw a creepy, skeletal hand from under wide sleeve push it forward. Whispers were louder than before, confusing, language unknown. And two figures, identical, no, they were creatures, that could not be distinguished by their form. Dark grey cloaks so long he could not see their feet, a few times he believed they floated above the floor. Hoods over presumable heads so large he could not see the faces, if there were any.

The first thing he recognized was the whispered speech. "Where..." the voice was strange, as if speaking the word was too foreign. "..sinners.."

Afraid of them getting too close he threw a vial that shattered when it touched the floor and released a substance that turned into gas. He waited for the results, coughs and faints, but the creatures ignored the poison as if its appearance was not even registered. Then as his shaking hand rose to protect himself, the sharpest knife in this room almost breaking from the tight hold of his fingers, the creature grabbed his neck quicker than the snake moved to attack, only to push him against the wall. A corner he occupied became a little prison. The knife disappeared, and the temperature continued to drop as if death itself came to visit. "...sinners... rule breakers... dared to... ground does not belong to the likes..." one whispered with pauses filled with strange inhuman sound and the other whispered at the same time, both voices creating ominous feeling, terrifying his insides. "...seek... fog... trail... speak earth dweller...seen them..."

"I don't know who you're talking about, I have many clients..." He managed to reply without stuttering. He's seen many things, dead and alive, but wasn't ever threatened so much by such unknown. Despite the freezing temperature he felt his skin become wet with sweat, discomfort especially noticeable when the pale skeletal hand squeezed harder. Immune to gas that spread in the room he still felt his lungs burn, and added to his position it almost guaranteed he'd not walk out of the room without consequences.

"...rule breakers.. god offenders..."

If he thought that his clients could be the targets then he was lost now. These creatures looked like they came to collect the souls of some trouble persons. But elemental nations were full of them, starting with criminals and finishing the list with most prominent politicians. Who could these ghosts be after? Suddenly, when he heard various vials in the room tremble and crack, a memory of certain client who called himself Sasori came to the front of mind. Especially the way he spoke to his companion about immortality and individuals that obtained it in different ways. Somehow it was logical that death did not find it funny that someone lived far too long. "..Akatsuki.. you have some affair with those guys don't you?"

The guests hissed and several glass vials shuttered from unknown, unnatural pressure. "..where.."

Drops of sweat continued to fall on the floor as he tried to remember anything significant about those guys with ridiculous red cloud pattern, but all he could focus on was the amount of money he made selling poisons and medicines to the group and their ugly faces. The hold became looser but the creature raised him higher in obvious threat. "Last time they were here they travelled west, I swear that's all I know." The sentence was quick and seemed to come out his mouth without him controlling it.

A slight soft hum came from the creature that was moving about the room, awkwardly touching things. And then he was falling. Another hiss and as he looked up, they were gone.

...

_Konoha_

Irritation seemed to plague him. It had a scarred face of interrogator that could not accept someone's independence or take in stride a simple joke. It came in form of Minato, who completely ignored the events in Hokage Tower in favour of evaluating Shiru's mental state to come to rightful conclusion that behind all aggressive behaviour and insanity the boy cared for his adoptive older brother and protected him in his own twisted way. That through all this debate and examination the blonde man spoke aloud and led Shirushi's chain of thought in chase was an added irritation bonus. Not that Shiru wouldn't come to define the psychological portrait of his self in the future when he deemed it due time. Minato lacked patience and tact in that regard. Now Shiru was aware of his protective tendencies and could not name his actions 'just fun'. Whatever he did now would undoubtedly lead to deeper meanings in everyone's mind.

Next, irritation came bearing the troubled features of Hatake Kakashi, whom Minato chose to be the bodyguard/babysitter and generally a companion for Shirushi. Unsurprisingly all the titles were a lie, because the grey haired jounin was ordered to keep him out of trouble and stop him from doing anything suspicious or stupid. Kakashi was pathetic as a companion because he preferred reading porno to speaking with his charge. A poor conversationalist, that hid behind words 'Did you say something?' each time he excused his lack of response, when he could not think of the good one. But he was a watchful shinobi, always aware of their surroundings.

Now the day started with pending doom, as the four of them gathered for breakfast and Aloa served food. Shiru wondered why the woman didn't give strange glances to the guests. Maybe, she was used to variety of things in Minato's house.

Despite days and nights spent in the hospital Itachi behaved as if nothing happened and continued to be his silent self. Whatever dirty secrets of Akatsuki and other masses he was selling, there seemed to be seas of them and most of the time, the teen was in Anbu headquarters or some other fishy information department. Protected by an entire squad, he could disappear for several days, not giving a word about what he was doing. Minato, who had to be aware of everything was tight lipped.

Since events in Hokage tower Shiru kept a closer eye to the man's antics and actions in general, but could barely see the strict village leader that organized the death of councilmen in a room full of spectators. It was an act worthy of attention, awe inspiring and pictured Minato in a new light. The sight of an always happy, cheerful and kind blonde man made him want to rip the smile off to meet the man Minato truly was, who hid deep inside, showing his face only when he dealt with enemies. To be capable of bringing out only part of his nature was a rare gift that Shiru observed in Itachi. But the difference was the contrast between the two. Where Itachi was skilled in hiding his intentions but always remained calm and in control, Minato went through transformation that pushed his curiosity buttons. There was so much more to the man that if underestimating him was out of question before, now studying him was a crucial matter.

Generally, having the three unusually powerful shinobi of Konoha by the table was fascinating. It reminded of the way Akatsuki gathered together, each an individual and each a part of the group. Kakashi put up a genjutsu where he was reading and not touching food, while in reality he was savouring it without his mask on. Did he put up a special show to seem inhuman? Shiru was supposed to be the only one to see it, but confused as he was, he completely ignored the man's existence. No one managed to fool him with a genjutsu yet.

Naturally, Minato was the only source of sound and entertainment, as he tried to lighten the serious mood of his guests. He did that by describing his strategy of winning the heart of Kushina as teenager. And when he told of all escapades, he described the funniest parts of his time as a teacher, exaggerating a lot, but Shiru found he did not mind little lies when those sounded funny. When Kakashi glared and attempted to run away (stood from the table only for minato's hand to land on his shoulder and bring him down again), Shiru understood who the 'most quiet and serious child on the planet' was and found that he shared Minato's point of view, no matter how little funny Hatake found those memories.

Then Minato would tend to his duties as the Hokage; Itachi would ask Shiru to have some fun, get used to Konoha, avoid giving headache to Hatake and leave; and Kakashi would laze around until Shirushi kicked him, ready to face his bunch of kids. On the first day Hatake didn't even mention they were to meet his genin and both were three hours late.

Shiru's observation noted that genin gave him knowing looks on the second day. Tenten even offered him to become her target and teased about overly protective daddy that ordered one of the most powerful jounin in the village to become his personal guard. She was easy to get used to if one had pointed teeth against her sharp claws. Lee was the walking disaster, still checking every inch of earth and heaven for the stone he'd lost. His mood swings were worthy of Deidara, but once he started training he was focused and could give Shiru fifteen minutes of good spar.

They did not hide their speed from each other, which made Shiru wonder what it would be like if they had no restrictions, both able to use ninjutsu. It was indescribable feeling, to know that while Lee looked for the stone, it was so very close, and truly almost in his grasp, if he only knew where to look and who had the gall take it from him. Only Jiraiya gave Shiru suspicious stares when Kakashi informed him, and no one else.

But then if Lee did have the stone with him and access to ninjutsu while Shiru had a single kunai, he'd have still probably won. Lee was a good sparring partner, and might become a good soldier, but he was not a serious opponent nor strategist.

Last but not least, Hyuuga Neji was like a cosmos. A member of the team who pretended to exist separately from them. Noble and graceful like a prince for as long as he did not lose equilibrium. If that happened he was like a child without toy, a puppet with strings in a knot or a dog that followed impulse and went after a cat.

Walking cosmos. With a gait like he had his own agenda. Sceptic to things heard and seen. Polite but slippery like sand or water.

They had mixed feelings about each other. Both of them were placed in identical positions by Minato. Shiru felt like he was an intruder in relation Neji built with the man, while Neji suddenly found that his place belonged to someone else. Minato tried to divide his attention between the two of them but he failed. If he favouring Naruto, his long lost son, was obvious to Shirushi, then it wasn't a secret to Neji, no matter how subtle the man tried to be.

They did not exchange more than significant glances in that regard, but Shiru expected that sooner or later the emotions would escalate. From his point of view the man wasn't sensible. Shiru wouldn't fully accept him, ever. Yes, he understood Minato was his biological father and Konoha the village he was born in, but there was a whole world out there where he felt he belonged far more. Ame, Akatsuki, the spirits realm, the world of shinobi and all nations.

He already tried to run once, and knew that sooner or later Dad would appear to whisk him away. All melodrama that played out before him seemed fleeting in that regard. Like a dream where he was forced to participate, a dream he'd wake from when the right time came.

The kids were obviously given a speech and short training about treating a new companion. They tried their hardest to behave as if he was a general stranger they were supposed to accept. No giving him wide berth, no clinging like he was royalty and no sniffing for personal information. Sometimes he could see them itch to do some of those things, like asking him where he was all this time or following him each step. He was sure Neji kept track of him using Byakugan.

Whether or not it started with his appearance or even before, the team seemed focused around light training, ridiculous missions that had nothing to do with the work of ninja and poorly masked interest in his person.

And in that picture, team Kakashi was a useless squad that had no direction.

"Watch it, people!" Tenten complained as she pulled the reins and the heels of her feet went deeper and deeper in earth. And still her small frame, little weight and stubbornness did not stop the large species of Inuzuka dogs from forcing her to follow their route. Well, what did she expect, that they'd reverently listen to her every word? The crowd on the street parted, entertained and annoyed, and in Tenten's wake Lee followed, on the back of a dog so large it looked like a monster.

Instead of controlling where they moved he had lots of fun just joining the pack, blinding smiles, singing and all that. Wild child. How did Kakashi even tame him? He did not seem like a suitable teacher. The two of them walked calmly, in the far back of the group, watching as Neji held the reins on the seven smallest pets, having a lot more trouble than Tenten.

"It's funny that he still tries to look graceful." Shiru commented, amused by Hyuuga's acrobatics to loosen the tight bundle his reins turned into. People on the street were laughing. Hatake hummed in response but otherwise did not react, keeping his nose in the porno book. Sometimes it seemed like a good therapy. You could pour your heart to the unresponsive human being, not bothering he'd focus on any sentence.

If Kakashi wasn't alert all the time pretending to be reading, that is. The image he created about his persona was a never ending spectacle. You just had to admire all the details and mechanics he put into it.

A little dog yapped behind them, and Shiru translated the wiggling tail as amusement and happiness. A total contradiction to the legend of evil and malice Kakashi weaved about this petite angel. All the man did was ignore his students and ignore the dog he offered to 'tame' in favour of hiding his nose in the book and giving subtle glances to Shirushi. Freaking bodyguard.

"You're part of the team now, so you should help them, you know?" Hatake mumbled quietly.

Shiru scowled, "I am no genin, I will not join this ridiculous charade." The jounin hummed. "Besides, who came to this pointless idea that ninja are paid to do the dirty work of civilians?"

One dog tore the collar off and left Tenten's side to have fun on its own. It ran past the pair and both followed its course with their eyes, not reacting in any other way, even when the girl screamed for help.

"That tradition started when the war was over and ninjas straight from the academy were too weak to take on a serious mission, but still had to get paid and used. And civilians are lazy." Eye smile.

"Humph."

Kakashi snapped the book shut and suddenly had Shirushi's hood in a fist.

"Whatever you're doing you better change your mind..." The blond hastily whispered but the rest of his sentence was lost as he was thrown up high, to land in a heap beside Lee on the back of multicoloured elephant size monster. Was that truly a dog?

"Ah, my dear friend! Finally decided to look at the world from this height?" The boy asked and sounded serious. Shiru didn't bother to move from his strange bent position on the animal and gave Hatake a heated glare. The man had the gall to wave.

Tenten passed them in a rush to catch one specimen that escaped her, a pack she was responsible for right behind her. The situation was so _'this must be genjutsu' _that Shiru had an unusual urge to laugh like a madman. Did his Dad and Nagato felt like this when they watched Akatsuki members act outside of missions? Scratch that, did all shinobi and kunoichi look as ridiculous when you looked at them from a different point of view, from atop a monster dog, perhaps?

Neji's pack met Tenten's in the middle of the road and knots multiplied. Probably seeing it as a group hug the monster had a tongue out and quickly started advancing to join in, making Shiru's body jump with each rushed step.

"Oooooh..." Lee clearly did not know how to survive in extreme situations, his hands turned white from pulling the reins so hard.

"Give me that." The blond straightened and took the reins from dark haired boy. He used them to strangle the dog threateningly and it writhed a bit.

"Don't hurt him!" Lee shouted holding onto fur.

"Quiet." Shiru bit back and forced the dog to turn to the circus in the middle of the road. You could not deny that Neji had agility that had to be inherited. Tenten and her sharp edges were persuasive as well.

"Hey!" The blond called adding chakra to his throat, a trick about vibrations he learned from the fox clan. "You want to have some fun, don't you?" All the animals gave him at least partial attention. Eager and full of energy, walking was not their idea of spending the day. "Then, how about a race?"

The monster barked and the rest barked as well. Neji had his eyes so large that they took half of his face; hastily, he let go of all the straps. Tenten oblivious to the rest of the world, finally caught the escapee as it gaped at Shirushi and when the race started, she was on the back of brown dog the size of a tiger. Shiru hoped she had fun...

The village was even larger if you set to do laps around it. How the smallest Inuzuka dogs appeared in the front of the race was a mystery. Kakashi was nowhere in sight, Neji somehow got on the dog the size of a lion and tried to seem as brave as Tenten as she prompted her racer to be faster. The monster under Shiru and Lee was a happy individual that did not care much about the race, but due to size, was reasonably in the middle where most of the fun was. Joy had to be contagious and Shiru discreetly touched the grin that stretched on his face. He hadn't had companionship of other children since ever, and most of the time thought of them as nuisance. Finding that he spent pleasant hours with them and forgot all his problems was a new experience.

Sometimes the dream wasn't as dull and forced as it seemed.

Two hours later Hatake was having his team in a clearing where he ceremoniously - in a really mocking manner - gave them paper sheets. Forms to fill, he said. Dirty and sweaty, the genin squealed in Tenten's case, and grinned, in the boys' case.

"I've nominated you for the chuunin exams. You have two days to decide if you want to go." Kakashi eye smiled and then turned to Shirushi, who felt troubled at the news. "Would you want to enter as well, Shiru-chan?"

The blond growled at the nickname. "No." Though he wondered how he'd fare against genin of elemental nations. He was no genin himself, but he never passed the exams and it's doubtful he'd had a standard curriculum.

"Why not?" Hatake focused on him, suddenly turning demanding. The question seemed to echo on the faces of genin, they raised their heads awaiting his answer. They surely noted he wasn't a civilian and wondered what his true range of skills was. But did they really expect him to join the crowd of leaf weaklings for some competition show?

"I don't want to gather attention." Suspicious glances spoke for themselves. An evil grin he added worked and they reluctantly let it go, but the problem stayed. If Kakashi and his team left Konoha while he stayed, he'd get a new bodyguard, and he wasn't sure if the next one would be as suitable and oblivious as the grey haired jounin.

...

_Ame_

Several large drafts covered the floor of the cave, done by Hiruko's tail.

The cold, spacious cave was mostly empty, save for Sasori who corrected the drawings, Pain, who observed his work, and of course, the statue that like unwelcome spectator loomed over puppet master.

"None of the modifications I tried ensured the separation of souls as it worked with Sabaku no Gaara." Sasori's voice echoed off the bluish walls. Pain's expression did not change, it never did, but Sasori felt it in his demeanour. He hoped that the Leader was disappointed, because it meant he wasn't the only one who'd rather let the boy live.

Nii Yugito's coma that lasted two days after extraction motivated Sasori and Pain to study her seal. They found that if her seal was just a bit weaker, or tied her chakra network with the beast's less, she could have survived. It did not matter nor made any difference, until the revelation about Shirushi's status came and became 'public' knowledge. Prior to next extraction, Sasori worked on changing the seal to help the jinchuuriki survive. He and Deidara went after their target, caught him with little trouble and a bit of work later Sasori found that he saved the life of his relative. But Ichibi was behind a weak and easily modified seal, whereas the work of Namikaze looked like a puzzle that had no solution.

"It was placed with the help of Shinigami." Pain spoke, examining the last draft Sasori made.

After a heavy pause where Sasori realized the magnitude of the detail the Leader revealed, he opted to keep the beliefs and doubts to himself. "Then I doubt any action on our part would change the state of things or be accepted as it was." His voice was low and monotone as always, but his thoughts in turmoil. He studied jinchuuriki and gifts they received from bijuu thanks to his work with Akatsuki, the corpses available for his use and experiments. He hadn't considered leaving until now. Until their last target was revealed.

He was one of the few who knew the truth. If it meant helping the boy survive, he would have taken the knowledge to grave. Thankfully, letting Itachi walk away with it was not a mistake. The teen surprised everyone when he disappeared along with Shirushi. It was so totally out of character for the cold hearted murderer that barely anyone believed that claim. If anyone were to do something so daring and foolish it would be Deidara, who joked about them looking like brothers, Kakuzu, who had a secret soft spot for the kid and generally liked to work independently from organization, Konan, who cared about the kid like family, or Sasori himself, who could not see the skill the boy possessed die. Itachi was a wild card from the beginning, dangerous, mistrusted and generally an outsider that was inside but managed to keep the distance.

Whatever traits of those revealed were true did not matter, because Itachi did what Sasori couldn't. He acted dismissing the threat. He moved when others were frozen, and dared where others hesitated. But could he keep the boy safe forever? Not really, because if Akatsuki truly went after nine tails no ninja and no village could stop them. Unless, Akatsuki fell apart. But if several members were to leave, with time they would be replaced by others. Unusual goal, money and power made this organization appealing for many possible candidates. And you could not tarnish its reputation, legends and feats already gathered attention of many, circulating through the elemental nations.

Headache coming, Sasori found that he went from studying seals to musing over the end of organization, all in the presence of its Leader. It was fortunate that his face showed no emotions and he had no pulse that quickened. Not like it mattered to Pain what he thought in the long run, but it was always better to keep suspicions off his person.

...

_Somewhere else_

"No bodies, no business." The gruff voice said, the bald head disappeared and the steel door slammed closed.

Two figures in dark grey cloaks seemed to drift in the cold air before the door lost in thought, confused. Two hoods turned in each other's direction, silently exchanging the impression they had, and just as silently, the creatures moved in other direction, back down the corridor. As they passed the kitchen utensils flew, terrified people screamed and generally, chaos ensued.

As they walked into the dining area, as a pair of silent teenagers that stuffed the travelling bag with dark material, no one paid them attention.

One was a boy that looked like a girl, and the other was a red haired girl that could compete with any man's temper. They took one table and sat in front of each other. Their silence was awkward and somewhat sheepish, but the waiter did not notice it and easily took their order of takoyaki and yosenabe. The place was full of people despite the dealings behind the wall and Karin found herself wondering if any of them knew about the corpses. The staff must be aware and used to it, but how did they coexist together?

"I guess it doesn't work on everyone."

"Huh?" She gave the attention to her partner.

"I mean, " he smiled softly with eyes closed, "that we should have prepared for eventuality."

The red head scowled. "This one was exception. Our technique is perfect, you saw those squinty people run in all directions. Start using ice to make them immobile and they will believe us to come from heaven I assure you."

Haku sweat dropped. "the point isn't to make them believe in hell or heaven. ...The point is to make them talk, Karin."

She continued as if she didn't hear him. "I wanna see them wet themselves when we appear on horizon. Maybe we'll take some in as slaves. What do you say?"

"I'm a pacifist."

"I always wanted to feel like... like a queen. Worshipped, feared, with crowd of weaklings at my feet."

"That one we just met doesn't seem the type." Haku sounded sceptical.

"...and then I'll order them to build a temple in my name. And they'll bow and crawl and beg..."

"I'm hungry."

"...and crawl again and cry dammit Haku you're not listening to me!"

The waiter brought food and with optimistic smile, Haku started eating. Karin glared and pointedly moved plates closer to her side of the table. "Share, you demon in human skin!"

The teen snapped the sticks by her nose. "Am no demon you ugly otter."

They exchanged a glare, and a pause of stalemate later, ate in contemplative silence. (1)

* * *

_Konoha_

As if someone tried to turn the world upside down, people he knew kept uncovering depths to the child they wanted to call Naruto.

Minato kept the theory that Shirushi did not admit to himself that he cared about Itachi, but acted in his defence and deep down felt the connection between them. Ibiki had a theory that the child was both innocent and guilty. In his opinion the boy was trained to act like he did and only years of working with other shinobi could fix the damage. Jiraiya believed the kid to be a spy that gathered information on Konoha, and besides, in his opinion Itachi was a spy as well, but one that worked for as long as he had benefits. Hatake compared him to all other brooders of Konoha, especially Sasuke, and commented on how Itachi found himself a substitute little brother. In his humble opinion all kids were the same, little demons with skills, tempers and family problems.

None of them saw the child for who he was. A trained killer.

Yes, he had far more sense than usual killing machine and could feel emotions, sadness, happiness anger and even sorrow, but there was no remorse. Whatever innocence existed in the child was long gone, as he grew up in company of S-class killers. Each member was a colourful individual though, and it ensured that Shirushi developed a human personality as well.

Itachi gazed through the window at the seals Minato drew and placed outside for a training session he wanted to have with his son. The barrier was meant to hide their chakra signatures and any other energy release, as well as protect the surroundings. Minato wouldn't want his house to fall, after all. He chose the grounds behind the house, on the opposite site of the gardens. Four points of the barrier formed the walls, a slight bluish glow to indicate them. Mostly, the square was bare, several trees here and there, short grass. It was ideal for light spar with ninjutsu entailed. Interested with how it would go, Itachi decided to watch it from inside the house, to give the pair an illusion of privacy. He wanted to see them interact when they did not have company.

Minato took the boy's lock off and then they made stretches, eager to start.

Several minutes later the pair was engaged in taijutsu match, slowly building up the speed and strength of their moves.

Visually, Shiru did not differ from other children his age, but Itachi thought that at least Morino would share his point of view. He did not have to kill the group of assassins. He did not have to engage them in a fight four on one. He did not say much to Itachi in all the time he spent in his room, focused on the targets like a hunter. There was occasional warmth in his eyes as he looked at his older brother, but it was overshadowed by thrill that came from observing the prey.

Itachi scowled. He did not bring him to Konoha to reunite the family, for hugs and kisses. He used his identity to get the Yondaime's help and support. Minato was powerful and had the whole shinobi village at disposal, but he was blinded by joy and instead of finding a way to destroy Kyuubi to stop Akatsuki's plans once and for all, he tried to turn Shirushi into Naruto. By showing him what living with him was like, by endearing him to the village, gluing him to kids his own age. It could change the boy's view of life but they didn't have years for it to have effect. The boy was a monster, that provoked, could act on impulse and slaughter armies.

Minato's theory was true only in part. Shiru was indeed attached to Itachi and wouldn't hurt him without a reason, would even protect him, but it was also a pretext to act as he did. The boy had energy and habits that needed release. Itachi tried to get that point across to the man since the beginning, starting with subtle hints about the boy's tendencies, and at last giving his thoughts about how dangerous Shirushi could be. There was ruthlessness Minato could not accept existed. So Itachi offered him to test the boy himself, by arranging a training session without chakra limits.

_'..._Provoke him. Steadily raise the level of power and make him reveal more. Surprise him, make him react. He most probably will hide some of the things he's able to do, but you'll also see what he's capable of in a fight..._'_

Minato wanted to grin like a fool. He'd waited long enough to test Naruto's capabilities and at last he organized the seals in such a way that did not give the signal to outside world. Creating the right pattern took more time than he expected, but he had to be cautious. Now with the barrier he could take the chakra blocking seal off and see the boy use ninjutsu for a first time. They sparred and used weapons few times, but that limit aggravated him when he believed he could see and show so much more.

First thirty seconds revealed that Naruto could easily earn the rank of chuunin. Great speed, reflexes and agility aside, the use of shadow clones that supported him in organized way really was impressive. Deciding to up the level lightly, he held himself back just a little less, carefully shooting Fuuton based techniques. They were easily blocked by simple earth wall. Curiously, Minato noted that Naruto did not use the basic seal sequences, which put him on guard the longer he observed the phenomenon. The sequences were shorter, and often one handed, something not even Minato could brag about. It was a proof that the boy was holding back a lot, using what he deemed necessary. Well, if that was the tactic his son planned to use, Minato mused, he was in for surprise.

His hands a blur of movement, Minato placed both palms on the ground, and grinned as pack of lions made of earth rose to advance on the opponent. Naruto tilted his head at them and seemed to inspect the addition.

"Nice, aren't they?" Minato asked, waiting for retaliation. He made the lions slower than usual, wary of any injury he could inflict, but tougher, to see how the boy would deal with it. Violet eyes looked up in acknowledgement, fearless, curious. Then, his hands a blur as well, readable but again, a strange combination and was it his imagination, or the boy used hand seals he hadn't seen before? He crossed his hands and lightning seemed to stream into a circle around him. At first Minato thought it was another sort of wall, but quickly realised it was a counter to his attack. Because lightning formed foxes, large and static, that faced his earth based forms. Of course, due to logic Naruto used, lightning release had no trouble against his jutsu. As foxes had fun with lions, the boy crossed his arms as if to say _'not bad, but it ain't gonna put me down nor impress me'._

Again, the man noted that the boy wasn't very talkative when in shinobi 'mode', as he dubbed it. It was a professional behaviour, that took years to impress upon an average ninja. Sheepishly, Minato scratched his neck. "Shall we try something harder...?"

Animals dissipated, and Minato went classical style and took his favourite kunai, applicated an advanced shunshin and used half of his speed this time.

The blade was met with double kunai, a rare custom version that yearned his glance of appreciation. He knew that his strength was more than the boy could handle, and was surprised when it did not matter to Naruto. However he moved his body, it looked like a dance where Minato was leading and guiding, actually helping the boy find a position to stay on equal ground of power. Logically Minato knew how that technically should be possible.

Acceleration of the opponents strength and counter action, opposite stationing, wise use of limbs and no direct deflection. But the sound of logic was far less impressive than practical use of it he was a spectator to. Claws and fangs that appeared along with it were very subtle and put him on minute guard. No, it wasn't a taijutsu style. It wasn't a kenjutsu style either, he supposed. Just a set of reaction chain that took away his advantage. He smiled feeling pride and question as to where Naruto learned this. Then ducked from the strings with tag traps that... came from the sleeves. Those harmlessly fell and graciously gathered back to where they came from. In that time Minato made a heavy stomp on the ground and watched Naruto's quizzical glance at the chakra that infused the earth and advanced on him. That one proved he could actually see chakra, even if it was hidden from sight. The ground gave away from under him in a large swallowing hole.

Agreeing to sparring session wasn't a hard decision. All was better than cryptic Itachi, crazy Kakashi and humiliating D-rank job. But the moment the man took off the seal on his neck with quick trick he understood that today it was something new. Minato clearly wanted more than exchange kicks and fists for an hour.

He didn't think that this barrier the man bragged about was ready. Of course, if Minato had Shiru's eyes he'd be done with it in a day, but as it took trial and error in the man's case, he thought it should have taken longer.

The set of seals around the terrain gleamed with power, and Shiru touched the skin on his neck, guessing that the lock would be back soon, and he had to be happy with what he was given. Already his body pulsed and skin surface prickled in pleasure with energy released beyond his presence.

They started eagerly but lightly, testing the new waters, so to speak. He noted that the man held back a lot and still enjoyed their exchanges, despite the control he exhibited. As they moved along, he wondered what skills and techniques were out of question when facing the man. It came to him with realization that Minato already knew too much of what he'd rather stay quiet about. the Kyuubi, the negative energy, the swordsman killing case, the woodman watching part. He guessed, those he could show and use, to appeal to the man's curiosity, but should he reveal his ability to use Hyouton he doubted the man would believe it was a result of proper set of hand seals. And then, some of obscure techniques he favoured were out of the list as well, along with the contracts he signed. The best action in this situation would be to do what Minato expected.

Swords, exploding tags, the skills of puppeteer, water user and tricks he learned from Itachi. But then again, he did not want to be what the man expected. It was logical to limit what he revealed about his power, but a large part of him wanted to rub the man's nose and show how advanced he was and what he managed to learn so far without the man's existence in his life. Also, this man, the Yondaime Hokage, was his biological father. He was the son of the most powerful man in Fire country. Hiding his skills and being average was like not doing himself justice. _'Balance in the middle, then. Impress but don't shock him into locking me in the cell for being a threat to his precious village.'_

Lions were really pretty. Jaws, mane and claws. Very detailed. But his foxes were sparkling. Take that.

The man was fast, and still he held back. And muscle strength! He had to tune his body to negative tendrils and give in to music to keep up. And while he relied on the outward force to guide him, he watched as the man danced to his own music, his own force that resided within. He could almost hear the power within Minato pulse and call out, as if daring the negative energy to try and compare itself to the bottomless source of energy. Their style was different, opposite, but he found that he admired the way the man did not rely on surrounding powers like Shirushi was.

The tags could catch him but he expected Minato to dodge. The point was to show he had that trick in disposal. And then the man just had to show he could control his surroundings without any hand seals, with intention used alone. One step and like joy crazy, earth listened and acted on his whim, racing toward Shirushi with one purpose, though what it entailed, the boy found he did not know. It was such a rare thing to happen, that he froze for a second, and the second was enough to startle him with the hole appearing under his feet. Sheer instinct protected him from falling into it, but coasted him, Shiru found. He silently cursed, asking ground to close itself was usual reaction for him but he should have predicted what the result would be. Surely grass growing and turning into ropes that formed bed over the hole was not the jutsu Minato expected.

He landed, looked up, and true, the man had a brow raised in question. Shiru shrugged and raised his chin, let the man come to his own conclusions. Though he had to admit, his fingers took the better of him at times.

It could be worse though. He almost summoned Touhara to catch him. That sight surely would have prompted many, many unwanted questions.

Now that he saw Naruto manipulate grass of all things, he guessed that those hand seals were something from the other world as a whole. Elemental jutsus and affinities aside, plant usage was on the border of Mokuton in his eyes. That surely prompted some investigation. Maybe he should shed the caution and motivate Naruto to show what he truly was capable of... With a glint in his blue eyes, he grabbed the handle from the pouch, aimed and disappeared in yellow light.

He was behind Naruto, or should have been. The boy it appeared, jumped to the side and threw numerous shuriken in his direction, awe and surprise etched on his face. Again, reaction and action, emotions on the side. Professional behaviour. To humour him, Minato grabbed handful of shuriken as well, and aimed well while those projected at him met the flash of light. From another angle he watched his weapons pass through the boy who turned in mid air and slashed the air with his hand in Minato's direction. The blades have yet to gravitate to the ground, and now they changed direction and turned on their owner. Fuuton controlled in that manner impressed the man but he tried not to show it. Another aim and flash and he was above, small and slow rasengan in hand, as he predicted, Naruto waited for him. The boy took the blow head on, momentarily startling the man who tried to stop the spin in his palm. All too soon the connection came and the boy... clone exploded in the man's face.

Through the sting on his skin Minato actually felt relief. He landed safely and rubbed his hand and face that suffered while looking around in search of original Naruto. He blinked. Surely he couldn't just disappear?

Who wouldn't want to test themselves against the Hokage? While in the grey mist of parallel dimension Shiru prepared the trap, pulling the wire through the rings in the blades and attaching it to his wrist, the largest tag he had in store in the middle of makeshift circle. He hadn't expected to use it in the long while, but could not pass the opportunity. He knew Minato still held back even though he used advanced techniques. It was a spar after all. He hadn't had so much fun in years. The man was amazing. ...As a shinobi of course.

Naruto appeared suddenly. He was crouching, focused on Minato and making half familiar half alien signs. From beneath him thick cord of plant sprang from the surface and speeded to the man, dividing twice, thrice and many times more. Minato leaped away and graced the green attacker with simple fireball, wondering still if it was close to wood release or not. A change of texture under his feet alarmed him and he looked down. Ah, a seal pattern on the large piece of paper, stuck to the ground with kunai.

A wire glinted and he realized the seal was activated, a high cage sprang to existence with him trapped inside. Ingenious. He chuckled and used replacement , it didn't work. His chuckles slowed and ceased in questioning tone. He looked through the bars. Naruto was still in a crouch, smirking. Minato lifted a finger to the bars and the boy shook his head. Ah. He blinked and moved the finger away, figuring that he opt to listen and avoid needless consequences. Besides, he was a seal master, wasn't he. Surely he could easily slip out of this one.

Quick inspection showed that there were no outward seals inside he could tamper with. That left breaking the cage. He cut the strand of hair and flicked it at the bars, checking the effects. The strand hissed and burnt from intense electricity. Minato nodded and spread his palms close to the bars. Thankfully, wind was his strongest affinity, and as no weapon and no muscle could destroy the cage, he had to rely on the elemental power. The wind became sharp in his wield, thin, but the bars only hissed and scratched, not breaking. He could see Naruto make hand seals again and tug the wire, so focusing more, almost in sage mode, he added nature energy to his manipulation.

The bars gave in and broke with a crisp. Minato smiled, no trap like this could stop him, but it was a clever one. Naruto didn't know that wind was his ace, and in this case, wind was proving once again to be stronger than lightning. Triumphant, he walked away from the crumbling cage and watched the boy stand releasing the wire. Wary, Minato checked his surroundings thoroughly before walking on. As fate would have it, behind him, where the trap folded itself and turned into the small scroll, he noticed a bush, somewhat colourful, with mushrooms instead of flowers on the thin branches and yellow pollen flowing up, like a dust.

If that wasn't a Mokuton alike creation that spread poison then he wasn't Namikaze.

Quicker than yellow flash, he jumped back and pointed at it with a finger. "That better not land me in a hospital. I have duties you know. And don't think that it is your chance to escape, you can't leave the walls of this barrier without me deactivating it."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "It's a poison but it won't kill you. Harmless, really."

He gave a sceptical look. "Then what does it do?"

the boy pulled out his double kunai. "You will see quite soon."

He attacked swiftly, eager to win, but the man was clever and created about twenty clones to move to sidelines and inspect himself. He hid among his copies well, but could not fool Shiru's eyes. He knew where the man was, though could not get too close engaged as he was by copies of the man that did not hold back in stopping his advance. The spar went for quite a time and Shiru was getting tired, he wanted to win now that he had a chance. But in comparison to the man's true strength and speed he found himself lacking. He knew that clones did not have the power of creator, a reason they went all out. They knew it well too, and smirked at him in satisfaction. Pushed back and onto the ground several times already, Shiru gritted his teeth in frustration, but did not give up. His respect and admiration grew with each minute, watching the man easily face whatever he threw at him, but he still wanted a sort of victory in this round.

Minato was happy Naruto at last got tired. It meant he'd either show more tricks or admit defeat soon. His fight against arrogant clones became vicious. That's the spirit.

After careful examination Minato came to conclusion that the space plant gradually made him dizzy. If that's all the poison was meant to do, he'd survive. He joined the fray, intent to finish the spar as the winner before he lost coordination. If there was anything Naruto inherited from him beside the looks, it was definitely the desire to always win.

Carelessly, Minato discarded the clones to engage Naruto in taijutsu himself. The boy became slower and panted from exertion. His dance was flowing and steady, but body tired. Minato easily overpowered him, surprising the boy that clearly expected him to sway by now. Well, he did learn several tricks from Tsunade in years that passed since she came back. A tight grip he set on Naruto's arms and position from behind as he raised his smaller body ensured that the boy could kick only air. He chuckled. "Do you admit defeat?"

Dubious, he found his arms go through as if the boy was transparent and then registered that Naruto turned around and after a sequence of seals placed his small palm on his chest. "No." Electrical shock went through him from ribs to heels and up to his skull, as flashes of many years ago assaulted his vision. 'it's not a paralyzing technique but a killing one.' ...'did you think you could get away with killing a Senju by claiming you messed a jutsu?... I don't believe the rumours but you can't deny there was no love lost between the two of you...Kushina is the reason, isn't she? Raibaru was her rightful fiancée. You're happy now he isn't in the way...' He could recognize his own technique when it was used against him. He was alive, thankfully, so Naruto didn't mess up. But if the boy wanted to give him a heart attack then there was no better way. It wasn't just his body that went still, he believed his soul just froze and considered fleeing. Where the hell did he learn that cursed jutsu? (2)

Naruto stepped back and like a cat, tilted his head to study him. It was a first time Minato became unnerved with the boy's gaze. There was no fear, no satisfaction, no glee of a child he would expect, but sincere, morbid curiosity, as if he used this technique for a first time and waited for the results. With realization dawning, he'd widen his eyes, throw up or shake if he physically could. After all, he once tested this jutsu as well, for the first and the last time.

"I win." Shirushi spoke simply and quietly. Then he straightened and crossed his arms with a glint of triumph. Minato noted that he could move his toes and head a bit. Before he gained feeling in his face as well and grimace found its way there, he pushed his dark thoughts into the farthest corner of the mind. Interrogation about karma jutsu wasn't how this session was planned to end. After all, Naruto met and... exceeded all expectations he had of him. It was a cause for celebration. Reactions and questions could wait.

While the man shifted in place, regaining ability to move, Shiru gathered his breath and recuperated. All he wanted now was to fall on the comfy bed and fall asleep. Whoever dared to wake him later deserved silence, or better yet, a good punch to the face. He didn't remember when he was so tired.

Some confusion worked in him at fear the man expressed briefly, but he discarded it as inconsequential the moment Minato shook his body like a dog and threw himself at Shiru with all affection he could master. There was tight hug, nuzzling and generous kissing of every place Minato could get to. "...What are you doing?" He asked when he could breathe. The man pushed him onto the ground with the forceful embrace.

Minato kissed the top of his head, completely ignoring Shiru's attempts to throw him off. "You're a little genius." Minato revealed proudly and picked him up to move in a circle, absolutely happy. "So smart and skilled you'll soon surpass your old man!" More hugging followed. Shirushi was so dumbfounded that he almost stopped struggling. No one ever showed so much appreciation and affection with him. Well, he received hugs and little kisses before, but never with such endless, disturbing love he saw coming from the man. His eyes tried to find something else, but all there was, was love. He froze and his muscles went slack. Shock gripped him because in that moment he understood the difference. Difference that drew line in his life.

Dad loved him and was proud of him when he did well on a mission, or killed without a back glance. He had to earn Madara's love by doing things the man expected from him. But since Minato laid eyes on him, even before they spoke and got to know each other, there was always love.

Unconditional.

Not prompted by anything but the fact that he existed and belonged. He felt like flying as his body became weightless in shock of discovery. "..my son..." The man spoke. Embrace was still tight but Shiru no longer fought it. "my one and only, you make me proud..." Words were making him light headed. He basked in the ocean of emotion Minato expressed. There couldn't be so much love in one person. But it seemed Minato was determined to throw it all at Shirushi at once. "...I love you, you know that? More than anything..." Words were soft and clicked in Shiru's mind, passing gears until stumbling upon a thought.

...Do you really? ...Do you love me as much as you loved me then, when saving the village was more important than I? When your love for Konoha exceeded your love for me? Or do you place me above it now, that you have me after all these years?

...

The room was dark, and looked rather like a cell. Of furniture there was a table with various vials and medical equipment, shelves with unknown content, and a metal chair, occupied by one person. Barely recognizable, because everything was covered by blood.

All was red, the hair, the clothes, the skin. Raspy breath filled the silence.

Gentle steps led someone to the door. The use of key was quiet, as entrance. The man that walked in was tall. He stepped to the table and opened one vial. The light that came from the corridor revealed wide red stains on the floor around the chair, and straps that kept the prisoner tied.

The man stepped to the prisoner and positioned the opened vial under his nose. It caused the unlucky man to stir and turn away.

"Good morning, sleepy beauty." The tall man greeted. The prisoner hissed.

"Your regeneration abilities slowed at last. Probably due to lack of water and food. And maybe due to poisons we used. I'm sure all of this is not enough to make you speak though. Care to give me a hint as to how to torture you now? What haven't I tried yet that would lead to success, hmm?" He started making circles around the chair. "Because if you don't help me in that department, I'm gonna keep searching and who knows how long that'll take."

The prisoner spit on the side but did not speak. The tall man grabbed him by long hair and pulled his head back. "I have lots of patience."

The prisoner laughed. "...Morino. Let's make a bet then, huh?...I say I have more patience than you." he laughed again.

"And experience." Ibiki added to his previous statement. He let go of the hair and went to the table in calm manner. (3)

* * *

(1) Haku and Karin are gathering information on Akatsuki for Hakujin.

(2) The Raiton paralyzing jutsu was created by Minato and as forbidden, placed in the scroll of forbidden techniques. In past chapters that scroll got into Akatsuki's hands and Madara tested that technique on rats. Obviously, he later taught Shirushi how to use it.

(3) If long hair and regeneration did not give you a clue, then know that Ibiki spoke with Kabuto.

I hoped you liked the chapter. The prologue revealed the origins of Uzumaki clan. You get more pieces of the puzzle:)


	19. But he gave her death wish instead

_**Preview**__ (ignore it if you have good memory)_

Shinigami helped seal the Kyuubi, but instead of taking Minato's soul and life, he took away Naruto, who was mere hours later found by Madara.

Madara adopts the child, sort of, and calls him Shirushi, due to doujutsu he presumes the boy to have.

In fourth chapter, Shirushi is kidnapped by Hyouton users that ran from Mist. He's saved by Madara and after that lives with Akatsuki.

For years Minato tries to find his son, even when Jiraiya stops believing he's alive. Years later he gives some of his attention to Neji, and Neji's mother.

The clan of foxes erases Madara from their contract and accepts Shirushi as their summoner. They teach him the use of negative nature energy.

Shisui plays large role in the Uchiha massacre. Itachi still joins Akatsuki, and starts to pay attention to the blonde boy.

He finds that Shirushi is Namikaze Naruto.

Shirushi engages Zabuza in a fight and after killing him finds that his Uzu family signed a contract with a Shinigami. Each time he kills someone, he may 'make a wish', but not ask for life, neither for death. After the fight he let Haku live.

Kakashi becomes a jounin sensei for Neji, Lee and Tenten. A year later Guy becomes a jounin sensei for Sasuke, Sakura and Kabuto.

At some point Shirushi takes away Orochimaru's memories – when the man confronts Itachi, to be exact. Orochimaru starts a new life in Rice and becomes Hakujin.

When facing Killer Bee, Shirushi's nature as Kyuubi jinchuuriki is revealed. Madara is shocked speechless for a long time. Itachi acts on impulse and whisks the boy away from the base, to ask Minato for help later.

In Konoha, Minato seals their chakra – Itachi's and Naruto's – and promises them his protection.

Team Kakashi and team Guy find the lost stone tablet of Uchiha clan.

Itachi is attacked by unknown group, and while he's in a hospital Shirushi ambushes the squad that was ordered to kill Itachi.

Minato orders the death of the trio of advisors, and fails to get rid of Danzo,

Shirushi steals the stone of the Shodaime from Lee.

We see the beginnings of the Shinigami cult in ancient times, born in Uzu clan.

In the spar with Minato Shiru reveals that he knows the lightning shock jutsu the man created when he was a chuunin. One that killed Kushina's fiance.

* * *

Beta Reader **Warrior of Sangre**

"Speech"

_Flashback and emphasis_

Chapter 19

...But he gave her death wish instead

_Konoha_

Colours were filled with warmth. The light, the morning, shadows, trees, whispers from leaves that moved with the wind. As if affected by morning lullaby, Shirushi swayed while lying in the hammock, reading notes that formed a little book he found on the shelf in his room.

The notes were made by hand, quite a time ago, he thought. As the pages were dirty yellow, torn in some places and the binding was surprisingly new. Descriptions and ideas filled the pages with no chronology, graphics were messed, repeated and redone time and again, crossed if unsatisfying. Terms used had no definition, no explanation but one the writer had in mind. One he more often than not did not share.

But there was still beauty and genius that caught Shiru's attention and kept it for as long as there were pages still left.

Minato was a man with mind, determination, inspiration and streak of unpredictability. His train of thoughts was amusing and terrifying to follow, but reading the lines in that book made Shirushi understand that man better than all conversations they previously shared. Understand him better as an enemy and leader, fighter and creator.

A present for his twelfth birthday.

When he first entered his room in Minato's house he learned a great deal about its contents and the little inconspicuous book among many on the shelf should not have gathered his attention as its insides were far too advanced for his supposed level of understanding. He realized it was the main reason the man did not move it off to somewhere else.

In his secret room and safe for all things untouchable, for example.

It was attached to library below, behind one of many bookcases, revealed by turning a switch of two seals in separate places in the opposite corners of the room. No one besides Minato himself was supposed to know that but just in case, the entrance to the secret room was blocked by another seal that let through only few particular chakra signatures.

If that was not enough, the safe itself was protected by far more complicated locks that truly had no keys you could fit, but some sort of codes. At the moment, Aloa, the nice and pretty woman that worked in Minato's house as the servant, tried to decipher one of them. Shirushi was observing her progress as a side project of sorts, where he made sure to be up to date with woman's movements.

She was subtle, patient and careful. He didn't know how many months, or years, it took her to get that far to Minato's private closet, but he was sure it'd take her as long to work out even one of the tricks she fiddled with. Amusing to watch, intriguing to be aware of, that little detail of Minato's house kept Shiru entertained.

Aside from the notes the man made while creating Hiraishin.

* * *

"I thought you were never going to approach me on that subject." Was the first thing Itachi said when the Hokage revealed what he wanted to speak of, at last. They had a not so unusual appointment that morning where Itachi shared his thoughts and details worthy of notice with the man, hoping to prepare the village for the worst. Today though, was the first time Minato wanted to learn about his son and especially, his past and his life with Madara.

"I thought I was never going to be ready to hear any of it." The blond replied resignedly. "It is the wall that separates me from my son and I fear what I shall see beyond it, but I cannot let it stand between us forever." He continued and visibly tried to relax in his chair, preparing himself for revelations.

Birds chirped and sunlight filled the office, some background noise from the streets filled the silence as Itachi tried to find where to start from. He did not want to retell the story of the boy's life or really, what little and lot he knew of it. He also did not want his point of view to be completely biased, it was his and no one else's but Minato had to accept what he was given no matter the source. Revealing too much and risk the boy's chances of fighting back even against Minato and his village also wasn't what Itachi aimed at. Shirushi needed an edge because one could never predict future circumstances and Itachi still owed him a little debt. Even so, the Hokage had to be aware of what he faced and dealt with, despite all sentiments.

"It is a twisted love." He started, narrowing his thoughts and emotions in one direction. "The first impression I got was how much it resembles all Uchiha family relations. Any given attention supposed to be precious, and any expressed pride an achievement. ..He expected Shirushi to be dependent on his affection and at the same time, grow to be independent from the group, striving to serve his father in any possible voiced and unvoiced way. Shirushi was meant to become the most loyal individual in Madara's show, most creative and unbending." Itachi paused while Minato looked somewhere far ahead, his gaze sad. "It must confound the man, utterly, to realise where his efforts were all this time directed into".

"What if he knew?" Minato cut in Itachi's train of thought. "How can you be so sure it wasn't a ruse?"

It wasn't the first time the Hokage jumped in with this question and it started to annoy Itachi. He didn't feel the need to give examples and prove his words, or explain his plain reasoning. "I just am." The tone he used was cold and factual. The man wanted to believe that Madara manipulated his son from the start, wanted to believe that his enemy was incapable of anything that even resembled love. It would be easier to plunge your knife in someone who hurt and used your child than someone who raised it without any prior knowledge of the child's origins. But Itachi wasn't here to ease Minato's conscience.

"Fine." The man muttered while absently looking away. Itachi thought the man might look like that when he plotted someone's demise. "What..." still with that absent look. "What would be Naruto's reaction if he were to see me attack his 'father'? How deep does that feeling of love run in him, the love for his parent?"

Young man raised a brow. Then seeing that the Hokage was serious he sighed lightly and crossed his legs. More and more, it seemed logic escaped Minato whenever, wherever Shirushi was concerned. And wasn't it worrying that the man could not separate Naruto from the boy named Shirushi? His own imagination from glaring reality? "How is any child supposed to react to seeing his parent attacked by someone who claims to be his parent? No matter if that claim is valid or not." Finally, blue eyes went back to staring at Itachi. "He could seize up, run in between you, irrationally become a shield for Madara, or stupidly try and stop you from going hostile on someone he cherishes. You cannot predict how he's going to act once that happens."

"I can if I know of the strength of their bond!" Exclamation sounded harsh but suited well with determination that shone like ice on the man's face. If Itachi did not know better he'd compare it to madness, but as it was, he was quite aware that it was obsession that ruled that man. How could it not be? Fate played a cruel joke here. Minato was a fighter. He got what he wanted and he wasn't about to let it go. Even if Shirushi begged him to spare Madara or simply let him go, all the man would think about was how to lessen the impact and hurt on Naruto while getting rid of Madara for good. He'd adjust to circumstances, turn everything upside down, make it seem like both he and his son were victims, while his archenemy was perpetrator behind every scheme.

Exactly the same thing Madara would do.

Both needed the child's trust to achieve their goals. Itachi here, just chose the one that wasn't likely to destroy the world.

"It isn't about the strength of it. Nor is it about its nature, whether it be fondness or love. Your focus is in the wrong direction." That at least, wiped the firm expression from the blond's face and made him frown in puzzlement. Itachi preferred the man when he was thoughtful, not when he was desperate. "Madara will focus on Shiru's feelings and reactions to him, organizing it so the boy chose him of his own free will. It is not the matter of studying and exploring that bond. The factor here is what goes in Shirushi's mind when he weights two options available to him."

"Going back to people he knows, and who will use him and kill him, or staying with people he doesn't know that wish to protect him? How is that even something to consider?" The Hokage jumped from his chair and for a moment Itachi thought that he would grab a pipe from somewhere and lit it in nervousness like Sandaime used to. But no, he just occupied one hand by rubbing his face, and the other by resting it on his hip. And his feet started pacing, in slow measured steps that meant to seem far from pacing.

"Going back to someone he knows, and who he doesn't want to oppose, or staying with someone he doesn't know, who he doesn't want to die for the sake of trying?" The young man voiced calmly. He read that gaze over a bowl of ramen when he found Shirushi at the base. The boy did not want to run away. He accepted the state of things the way it was. He was resigned to fate. "That child knows of Madara's power better than anyone. If what he picked up from the man is even half of it, and I believe it is just a fraction, then he has a right to doubt your, our chances. Can you blame him?"

"I can, I want to... protect him." The man applied pressure to his temples. Maybe he wanted to strangle something.

"Does he want you to?" Itachi was still calm. " That's the source of his choices."

"I will do that despite his choice."

To that, he had nothing to say. Minato had a right to protect his child. From death, from other parents. Had a duty to protect the world, or fire country at least from the beast Akatsuki threatened to create. Like Madara had a right to come and claim what is his, like Shirushi had a right to curse them all and escape or stay and make his own choice between the both men. "...He was raised to be perfect. Like me."

The Yondaime stopped moving and was contemplating turning to see Itachi's sincere expression, that was supposed to be there judging from the sincerity in the young man's voice, when Itachi continued. "Trained to crave attention, battle, acceptation, and power. Trained to be dependent on his parent's pride." He paused, surprised at the feeling that came with speaking aloud of things that knew only the tight confines of his mind.

Minato turned around, captivated. "But there's a difference." Itachi continued. It was obvious and explained the situation better if one looked into it from a certain perspective. The Hokage certainly would not think of it unless Itachi pointed it out. "I was raised in the shinobi village. I travelled outside the walls of clan district, I've seen other leaders, clan heads, parents, loyalties that laid in different places, and I've interacted with other children. I knew that expectations of me were high, because I was aware of expectations of others." A new understanding visibly washed over the man as he continued listening and Itachi continued speaking.

"I could compare many things and I came to many conclusions. Shirushi though, grew up among adults. Akatsuki members are his examples, their views are his views of the world. Their behaviour his source of his character development. Ruthlessness, bloodlust, selfishness, inflated ego, independence. ..He doesn't really know of anything else in regard of shinobi. And.. what little affection he had and had allowed toward himself is limited to few certain people he trusts."

In that moment Minato decided that he made a huge leap in his relationship with Naruto, because he found that his appendages and hugs were not rejected as often as in the beginning. If Itachi's description of the boy was correct, and he felt inclined to believe it, then the circle of people Naruto let close was very small. "What about loyalty. Is he loyal to Akatsuki in general, or to his father above all else?" He finally let Itachi go of his searching gaze and stepped to the window. Looking down he let his eyes roam over the busy villagers.

Shinobi walking in and out of the building, guards changing positions, messengers running about. One person stood out in the picture. The face was raised up to glance at the windows of the office, from time to time, and revealed a bothered, angry expression. Minato found that he wasn't surprised to see Uchiha Sasuke pace around the building. Though, he raised the brow at the boy's bold manners.

"Shiru never expressed undying loyalty toward organization. He simply existed in it. The wishes of Madara always matched the goals of organization, so he never had to choose. But I noted that he was closer to some of the members, more so than the others. Especially the older ones." Itachi's voice filled the room, it seemed tired now. Minato tilted his head observing the younger Uchiha below, and wondered.

Seeing that Minato became thoughtful Itachi sagged in the chair, and cringed, when the man tilted his head in an all too familiar way. "You keep trying to open my eyes to the truth about my son. ..I appreciate that, and I agree that we should accept the way things are and leave them in rightful places." The man's reflection caught his guest's stare. "Though I cannot understand why you haven't settled the affairs with your brother yet." He pointedly looked down again, and with a frown, Itachi rose to join him at the window. Indeed, Sasuke continued to trail him whenever he found his trace. Itachi did not blatantly ignore him, but avoided direct confrontation nonetheless. He knew that it would take a long time for Sasuke to give up, but he was patient when it came to such matters.

"You can explain what happened and why from your own.. perspective. It isn't completely right that he learns the truth from outside various sources." Minato continued, studying the young man's blank expression.

Itachi didn't answer immediately. He wasn't sure how to describe his stance in a way that would make the man understand. Really, the Hokage didn't have to delve into the details of their relationship. Still, the pose the man took, arms crossed over his chest,and the look the man gave: accusing and piercing, prompted to at least vaguely but explain himself. He stepped away, back into the room, and when he paused in his steps his hand traced the back of the chair he previously occupied. "I do not want Sasuke to depend on me. And if I let him learn the truth, trust me again, believe in me again, he inevitably will start to look up to me as years before. I have never planned for truth to come to light. But circumstances decided that there are things far greater than honour of our family, and things far harder for me to fight alone."

The Yondaime was studying him again. It reminded of the way Shirushi examined people and his surroundings, though the boy's expression was unnerving while Minato seemed simply stubborn.

"He should grow up on his own. Make his own choices and observations without my influence." He finished in a tone that suggested he would speak on the subject no more.

* * *

The mats were relatively soft as his bare feet touched the surface. The only sound that filled the room was his breathing, jumping, shifting of fabric of his clothes, and occasional humming that escaped him. The light came from lamps on the ceiling, the walls had no windows, it was definitely designed that way so that no light reflected off the weapons. And there were many, attached to the walls, gathered in the corners, stuffed in shelves and boxes, and sealed into scrolls. Despite that, he chose his own, feeling more comfortable with steel that was familiar.

He could not let himself get rusty, so after the sessions with Hatake and his team, which he still wasn't used to, he secluded himself in Minato's dojo, going through kata that were imprinted in his reflexes, dances that were prompted by music in his ears and limbs, moves that were counterattacks against an imagined opponent.

The door opened and Aloa walked in bringing a box. She stopped when she saw him, but as he ignored her presence, she bowed her head a little and cautiously went to the corner of the room. His sight told him that the box had several damaged projectiles, kunai and shuriken, mostly, and he remembered that Minato had a training session with Neji earlier. The metal would probably be reused. With that irrelevant information in his mind, he focused on his dance again. Invisible tendrils that guided him were still playful, but gained a sad note. He hummed a bit, along. The double blade had no weight in his hands, circling him protectively, or stabbing the air. Stretching his body he felt a dull ache, but it was pleasant at the same time. He was one with the steel, one with deadly length of edge, one with the music that had one steady rhythm. He cherished that time where he could be alone, himself, without the Hokage piling onto him activities he had no mood to join. That time was rare, lately. How long had it been?

There was a lot of space, to move. His heavy hair balanced him, becoming the extended limb he used like the others. He took in the flow that circled the room and went about him. And the way it omitted and at the same time welcomed a presence. He forgot when he closed his eyes.

Now they were opened and narrowed. She did not leave. She sat close to the corner, such a distance away that he would not be bothered, but on the side of the room, to have a good view of his movements. On her knees, hands folded in her lap. Neutral and respectful, insignificant in her presence at all, if it wasn't for her bright, wide brown eyes. She stared at him and followed his quick stances with awe that he found he welcomed. If it was the way she reacted to his training then he did not mind if she watched. He let her, for the next several minutes, before he slowed and casually walked to her, sat in the same position in front of her, and placed the blade on his lap.

She blinked, and opened her mouth many times before making the sound come out. "...I apologize, Naruto-sama." She bowed then, her forehead touching the ground. "..I did not mean to disturb you. But Naruto-sama was performing so beautifully I could not walk away, could not look away."

She was sincere. Her position and tone humble. Now without her eyes being visible, she became the average woman again. So unassuming. And yet, and yet this woman was using her position to prod around this house, so she _did_ have a plan, and a goal. At the moment the evasive answer fascinated him more than before.

"Forgive me my impudence, please." She asked again, not rising from the bow.

"It's Shirushi. Not Naruto." She squirmed, "I forgive you, you may rise." He replied, and watched as she straightened and revealed a bit of relief. Moving his weapon to the floor he shifted his head and glanced at the wall with swords and bokken. Aloa regularly cleaned here, and minded all the blades and tools in the room. Some of them had a larger residue of her trace than others. He rose and stepped to one. It was an elegant katana that would suit a woman well. He suspected it might have been his mother's, like few other curious tools in the room. Taking it off the wall with both hands he walked back and knelt again. She became intrigued, and he noted a trace of fear at his choice.

Making sure he wasn't grinning like a maniac, Shiru presented the sword to her. And waited until she gently took it in her hands to speak. "Dance with me."

At that, her bright eyes showed alarm. And excitement. And questions. And then all myriad of emotions that settled on acceptation of his offer, if with a bit of apprehension. He rose, gave her an eager smile and walked to the centre. Then he turned around and watched her follow. She fidgeted, but did not tremble. With a little more flourish than was needed, to put her at ease, he made an invitation by flashing his blade and bowing just a bit too low, large grin displayed openly for her to see. She laughed and bowed with a flourish as well, her body full of grace.

He took a stance, weapon pointing forward, the edge in front of him and behind him, his right side on the fronts, ready to face her or evade her. She slid the sword out of sheath, admired it for just a moment, and took a stance of her own. He expected her to use the sheath as well, but she tucked it under her tight belt. Her dress suited this unplanned session well, loose where it was needed, folds and sleeves of pseudo kimono in simplistic design that now vaguely reminded him of uniform preferred by masters of martial arts. Her body straight, right arm raised, and handle reversed, so that edge ran along her arm, pointing downwards. Her eyes were brighter now. When was the last time she held the sword in her hands? Why did it seem like it was years since she did?

On unspoken signal they attacked, fast and swift. He was quick, gliding and circling her, giving her enough time to react, to adjust, and still keeping her on her toes. She was jabbing, fierce and elegant, evasive and sharp. He played with her, watching as she attacked from inside the circle he made for her. She tried to find weaknesses, holes in his defence, used it without hesitation. He was the wind, unrestrained, untouched, the flame, agile and spreading, the predator, fast and playful.

She was the grass in the wind, the noise in the melody, the spark that tried to escape from the fire, the little stone caught by river that went with the flow of the current, knocking all the walls on the bottom of the water body, she was the prey that bit when it knew it could not run away, but still fought to leave at least one mark.

When he noticed that he was becoming too fast for her, he made sure to stay at the speed that let him enjoy her counter attacks. She was quite fast anyway, and he suspected that she wasn't in her top form.

There was joy in her now.

She even laughed.

He relaxed, going back into trance. The flow was gentle, and took him around her, avoiding her stabs and jabs, her limbs, frantic attacks that revealed her nature. To always fight, to defy, to go there where she was not expected, to do what she was not supposed to, to manage, to survive, to adjust. She was beautiful like this. Free from her shell of the servant that forgot who they truly were.

Aloa let herself go, she knew that if she put all of her skills with the sword to use she'd still simply be too slow to cause any serious damage. The boy was agile, attentive, he was everywhere even if it seemed he was out of it. She noted his eyes close several times, and they were half lidded most of the time. Disturbing grin did not leave him, and one time it did, his face said he knew all, saw all, and was playing around because he wanted to. She didn't know if she would like to see that expression again.

He was so otherworldly. As if he existed in another dimension and you could observe him by pure luck and miracle. But he was a little miracle. Kushina-sama was gone. But her blood continued to flow in veins of her son. Namikaze never struck her that way. Shirushi-sama took a lot from the both of his parents, but none of them had this quality of distance. You can stand close to him but you will still feel like you're miles away. It seemed he had his own paths to walk, ready to disappear at a moment's notice. You were not allowed to follow. She found that it saddened her. If she hadn't had a dream and plan to realize, she would have strived to join him, or to stand by side when he walked those paths alone.

Was there ever anyone for Kushina-sama? Was there ever anyone who supported her, kept her secrets, reached their hand out when she fell? Namikaze was just a lover, a husband, but was he a friend? She found no evidence of that yet. She realized that if her assumptions were correct then history loved to repeat itself. This boy, this brilliance did not deserve it. But she was not the one to change this part of history, was she?

Acquainted with each other now, they finally started to dance. One drawing the walls of the cage, the other playing with the bars. They were serious about winning, but not about fighting to death. Rarely one found an opponent that was both skilled and graceful. From his memories, and he hadn't lived that long yet, his father was the example of agility and swiftness, and Konan was the example of grace. From what he was observing Aloa was pure elegance and fierce determination. They fit perfectly. Both bold and rapid in their movements, but her sharpness compensated his fluid repositioning.

As all good things, their time was coming to an end. Minato crawled into his awareness by dispersing the grey tendrils, he disrupted the music and the dance was slowly losing its tempo. Desperate to revel in the pleasure for what little time was left, Shirushi breathed more intent into the spar, driving Aloa into the corner that forced her to give it her all.

Minato chose to stay in the doorway, without making any sound, to watch.

A flame so hot it was scorching burnt in the middle of his chest at the sight of his son sparring with another with such familiarity that it seemed they trained together for several months, or years even. He could not remember when he saw Aloa show so much dignity and elegance while using kenjutsu. Since she abandoned ninja duty over ten years ago, he had not seen her hold sword against anyone even once. Why did she suddenly decide to spar with Naruto? And why was he responding to her so unlike the way he responded to him, his own father? With Minato, there was caution and determination in Naruto's posture, defensiveness, and playfulness. Here, watching them not spar, but actually dance, he saw Naruto relaxed, while he enjoyed exchanging slashes with the woman he barely knew.

Three amazing minutes later Aloa noticed the presence of the master of the house and lost her focus. It signalled the end of their spar. She panted and looked away ashamed, Shiru observed. It did not make a lot of sense to him. Minato on the other hand was jealous, terrifically. Eh? Jealous of who? The blonde man gave attention to the servant as if she betrayed him somehow. So, he didn't like it that Shiru chose her to spar with? He did not seem to mind that Hatake, his genin team and Itachi had his attention too.

"It's been a while since I saw you like this, Aloa-san." The Hokage spoke, and gave a little wondering smile. His behaviour shocking Shirushi who frantically, though that was his inward reaction, searched for the sign of the jealous, dangerous man that stood in the doorway a second ago.

She carefully sheathed the sword and struggled for words. "..I'm surprised myself, Minato-sama." She gave a tentative, grateful glance to the boy. "Shirushi-sama offered a spar and I could not refuse." She bowed to her dance partner and then with reverence, returned the sword to its rightful place.

Minato watched her movements speculatively. Shiru, in turn, watched him. He could not understand how the man could have such amazing control over his own personality. To hide an emotion was one thing, to fool one's self was another, but to shift from one slate to the other in a span of a second wasn't in his experience yet. He hoped that he could puzzle it out before it became a problem. The same should be said about that seemingly average woman, Shirushi thought, but he somehow could not find it in himself to be too wary of her. That, in itself was far more troubling, but then again, he was no longer bored in Konoha, and he so loved secrets.

* * *

_Ame_

"Where have you been." Was the first thing he asked when she appeared before him. Her white, spread wide wings let her land on the terrace softly. Then, they fell apart and folded themselves, disappearing from view like a dream.

She wasn't sure if it was worth it, speaking that is.

Yahiko's face turned to her and regarded her emotionlessly. In times like these she did not imagine what was behind that expression, did not fool herself but saw a corpse. It disgusted her, she was disgusted with herself the most. Because she wasn't sure when she, they, crossed all the borders and the line disappeared. Even then, here, at the end of it that in reality was a middle, she could not make simple decisions without reflecting on her motivations and reasons. Reasons that just escaped.

"You've become all too silent and secretive. His fate is clearly plaguing you. You should not-"

"I visited Suna." She interrupted and let her stare bore into his own. "I wanted to know how Sabaku no Gaara recovered from the ordeal."

He was silent, expecting her to continue, but she just stared, imitating his visage.

"Well, did he recover." He asked in monotone, but she just didn't know if he was humouring her or actually cared. She did not want to imagine.

"Yes. He did."

A minute of silence passed. He turned away and looked at the village below. "I want you to visit Kumo. Zetsu is already there, tracking the eight tails. You will join him."

The apparent dismissal of the topic made her heart flutter. Here it was, the proof that she was separating herself mentally from the thought that was always present, that they were a team, together. That they trusted each other, and having each other, were not alone. But this distance that grew no matter how close she tried to get to him, had an unpleasant taste she started to despise. Her expression must have shown something because when he turned he stared at her pointedly, and a spike of chakra revealed his annoyance about her silence.

"Why do you ignore-"

"I do not ignore the situation. I do not let my hopes up." He interrupted her. "The seal on Sabaku no Gaara was the weakest of them all. So weak in fact, that proper conditions could have released the Ichibi without our intervention. The one used by Namikaze, on the other hand, keeps a hold so tight that we did not even feel, nor realise that Shirushi is a container."

"So what, if you can't ensure the boy's survival you will still proceed with extraction?" She tried not to sound incredulous.

"It is essential. It is part of the plan." He continued in a monotone as if it explained everything.

She blinked. All right, we kill each other now, what next? Complete annihilation of the world? She couldn't understand, did it not matter to him that Shirushi was living with them for several years already? He was part of the organization, hunting him down and killing in the painful process like other jinchuuriki was out of the question. But apparently, Nagato already prepared himself for the eventuality. What did Madara think of it? She wasn't ready to hear that his stance was the same.

Now that it came to it, she considered her chances of defying the pair.

With that trouble on mind, she nodded shortly, and turned around. She didn't want him to be suspicious of her before she made the choice. Steps unwavering, Konan reached the edge of the building and jumped down, still feeling his gaze on her back. In Kumo his eyes would not follow her, there, she could find time, and think.

* * *

_Somewhere_

Useless.

All the detailed, nauseating research Orochimaru made had so little to do Akatsuki's main goal that it left Madara frustrated. Oh, he did not mind side projects and fields the man chose to study were truly obscure. But where were the notes about tailed beasts? Where was the look into bodies and seals of jinchuuriki? Wasn't that part of obligations the man had?

This particular base wasn't used by Akatsuki as often as the one in Ame, and he observed that must've been the reason the snake visited it so often. The laboratory was larger, behind a set of locks that not even Sasori had keys to, and reeked of all the evil you could associate with that dangerous man. Some projects continued to grow in Orochimaru's absence, beyond the glass and walls that originally contained 'life'. Certainly, no one fed 'it' for quite a long time, (he added a lot of 'o' to 'long' in his head, making the word resound meaningfully as he warily gazed at what became of the laboratory); some of it died, fell apart and rotted. Terrible smell followed the process, of course.

And then, some of it survived.

He wasn't set on suicide so Madara stayed away of that flora, hoping it was no fauna. At moments like these, he appreciated Sasori's art more.

The shelves with notes disclosed a lot, but in the end, information within was useless. He needed answers. Plan B. He needed a force stronger than Death. Surely there had to be something above gods?

* * *

_Time skip, couple of months_

The road was wide, and led the trio through foliage that seemed to dominate the Fire country. Since they started walking two days ago, they met only one group of travellers. It was easy to guess that those were forming a family, and goods they had with them in cart were meant for trade. The head of the family was the oldest male, bearded and grey haired, but the brains of family was the daughter, her bossy behaviour and nose raised high in the air explained it all in the brief minutes, or maybe seconds that it took for them to pass. That girl's fiancé, not husband since he was too shy in older man's company and both teenagers were still quite young, followed all the orders and was the muscle of the group. Also, the smallest child, little boy full of energy was running around making noise.

The old man reprimanded him a few times. It had to be either his son, or nephew of sorts. For that little boy it was a first trip, and it was a reason he acted so excited. Though, if he continued with the hassle, sooner or later the bandits would make sure he and his family would make noise no more. Besides, they chose the wrong time for business. Didn't they know that all the wealthy people, even if they had little of that wealth, went on trip in the opposite direction?

Shirushi sighed, if he gave that much thought and observation skills to some no name family just because it was the first sight of crowd in three days then his sanity was in serious trouble.

And he didn't travel in solitude, there was no reason to latch onto every little stupid thing on the road. Never mind that said road had only a path of dust and greenery in every direction you cared to look in. The pair beside him did not bother to answer most of his questions, so what if most of those were insensitive? He wasn't here to make them happy. Rather, it was the other way around. Weren't they hired to care about his physical, as well as mental health?

One was smiling, very softly, even stupidly, as if some kind of dream came true. Or as if someone said that noodles were for free at the place of the trio's destination, noodles or whatever else made her happy. He avoided frequent eye contact, or looking in her direction all together. That was normal behaviour for him, after all he could not get used to what she'd done to herself.

Her brown, normal, hair, was replaced by bright, yellow blond that was almost perfect shade of his own. Disturbing.

It changed her overall appearance so much that he did not doubt anyone seeing them together would assume she was his mother. Aloa somehow got involved in this whole idea of Minato's. It was surreal coincidence that the man was reminded of her never rusting abilities as a kunoichi, and the first candidate that came to mind, one whose visual was not spread elemental nations wide, was Aloa. Or it was no coincidence at all. She had civilian clothes on, no different from those he saw before on her person, but a shining sealing tattoo on her wrist was new. One chakra signal, or a drop of blood, and a sword would appear in her hand. That, and many other hidden objects on her body would fill a large shinobi arsenal when put together. Surprisingly, the sack over her shoulder really had only food in there, and a pack on her back, spare clothes.

On his other side, a slightly lesser inconsistency. He was clothed in usual jounin uniform, behaved like a soldier. Walked like one. But expressions he wore, and words that left his mouth, were from completely other world. The scar on his nose should have reminded him that the man was often in council chamber at the Tower the moment Shirushi laid eyes on him, but the bigger, uglier scar on the man's right cheek took his attention at the time. It did not appear there by enemies hand. He was sure it was strategically placed there just for the distraction that it was. If he, Shirushi could not recognize the director of Konoha Academy, then who beyond Konoha walls would? Especially in this popular jounin attire, out on a mission. He was no Hatake Kakashi though, and that was the point.

And last but not least, Shirushi reflected on his own person. The argument that took place at Namikaze house was so loud it attracted crowds from compounds nearby.

He did not let Minato dye his hair. After it became apparent, Aloa had to become blonde.

He did not let the man cut his hair. He would have looked like mini Yondaime. Just no. After it became apparent, he agreed to wear a dress. All right, made a fuss about it and had to compromise and only then agree, to wear a dress. Lipstick was yewk, but it was either that, or contact lenses. And he did not fancy putting anything in his eye. So, pinkish, shiny lips were supposed to attract attention, away from his eyes. Looking forward though, on the right, on the left, and after a moment of thought, behind him, Shirushi came to a realisation that there was no one to apply it for, again. He sighed. In the back of his mind snores of Kyuubi reminded that the demon lord was bored as well, and unlike Shirushi could take a nap whenever he pleased. Shiru would much have preferred staying in Konoha, as he was getting used to the place and its people, or if he were to travel somewhere else after all, then in company of Hatake and Itachi, than this pair.

Really, it would seem that Umino Iruka and Aloa were very kind, loyal, reliable ninja, and the choice Minato made was obvious. The both of them would give their lives before harm befell the son of the Yondaime. Aside from protection they provided, there was additional safety measure. All three carried a special kunai in different form. Iruka had it normal sized, in standard shape, in reach of his hand, in the pouch strapped to his right thigh. Aloa had a custom, diminutive version attached to the bracelet on her left wrist. Her right hand would be occupied holding a sword after all. And Shirushi had his own sealed in his right shoulder, called out by a drop of blood, which meant he'd have to bite himself. His version was meant to be used in case both of his bodyguards failed.

He still could not use his chakra outside of his body, and in that regard had to rely on either Aloa or Iruka. each kunai was meant to call out to Minato, of course, enabling the man to appear via Hiraishin. In brief moments Shiru had the object close he inspected it to his best capabilities and had to admit the technique was a true piece of art. But that was not the point.

The point of his train of thought concerned the pair that was assigned to protect him, and frankly, Shiru wasn't sure if that pair was the right choice.

He didn't know Umino Iruka. Who was that man? Skilled, intelligent, loyal to his village, caring person that used to be a talented chuunin, and teacher in the academy that soon became its director. A _really_ talented chuunin who brought revolution to educational system in the village. And recently, that man became a jounin, and had a say in dealings and affairs of Konoha. Such a career, for someone so unassuming. Even Minato, with all his positive and stupid behaviour made you listen and obey with his mere presence, no matter how hard he tried to look unremarkable. So, what could one expect from this unassuming, kind man that had made a jump that large? Umino Iruka was unpredictable, of course. You can expect anything, because if you can't make good assumptions based on his presence, then whatever you think you know, means you know nothing. Example?

Example just happened to walk on the other side of Shirushi.

He really never would have imagined that Aloa, unassuming, inconspicuous, quiet woman that worked in Namikaze house was a skilled, dangerous kunoichi. One that simply was off duty due to her own personal reasons. Oh, and what interesting reasons those were! She was digging in the house, checking every nook and cranny, turning every piece of walls and furniture upside down in search of... what, exactly? That was still one intriguing matter. He dared not approach her about it yet, lest she decided to turn on him and find the picture of him in five pieces quite desirable.

Not that this ambition could be realised.

Still he'd rather have two bodyguards, not one. Oh, and unlike him, they could use ninjutsu. So no, he kept his mouth shut for the time being, no matter how much he truly wanted to play. Damn seal masters and seal limitations. And not to forget, his negative skill was sealed as well. And the key was in possession of one of the bodyguards, which one? Shirushi had no idea, but as long as he wished to have at least one of his abilities back he could not run away. Minato was devious like that. He could not deny Shirushi protection so if worst came to worst, he'd receive the key. Or the quickest way to fix any problem would be to simply call the man here.

Still he had to deal with a pair of suspicious individuals. He liked them, really. But he could not trust them. They gave him vibes. Simply looking at them and seeing that they wished him well, really really well, made him question their motives.

He'd rather have a woodman and his partner in their place. Or that scarred guy that believed himself to be interrogator.

His mind was having a tirade, prompted by silence that reigned in the group. It was a comfortable sort of silence but as his mind always worked, even when unconscious, that silence had to be filled with thoughts. So caught up in those was he, that he hadn't noticed dots on horizon that signalled a change of scenery. That brief encounters always took his attention because there wasn't much to look at on that trip. He hoped that he could make a puzzle out of the people he saw and as a sport, guess their relations, history, aim and purpose. Boredom was getting to him, and all was better to look at than blonde Aloa and Umino guy with a large ugly scar on his face that shouldn't be there.

The dots on the path ahead got closer and formed into a pair. Just a pair of travellers. He squinted and it seemed one had something on his head, a hat perhaps, but he did not see from that distance. The path was almost straight, walked by many, and many times. It was apparent and well known. He hoped that there'd be more people to meet on that trip, but as it is, that route was not popular at the time of the year. He sighed, wondering how popular roads looked now. He wouldn't be as bored if he walked one now that's for sure. They'd be late anyway. Though he doubted he'd be bothered by it much.

The dots became bigger, and something nagged at the back of his mind. Some bells that were not loud enough, but still made a background noise. So what if the pair of travellers looked to be a male and a female, and one wore a hat? Ah, when one of them had very large chakra reserves, shining like a beacon, familiar chakra signature and height, surely he should recognize the person sooner.

A shudder went through him. Outwardly he did not show anything, but internally he followed the mad debate that concerned his course of action. What to do? How to behave? Do I react in any way? Wait, would he even recognize me? What is their plan anyway? Do they have a plan? Of course they have, not that they shared it with you, you were what, for months 'imprisoned' in the Leaf village. In his panic, much too soon to get prepared for it, the pair got closer and was well visible. One person was tall, ridiculously so, and had a straw hat covering his face and his head, but you could see a blue of that person's chin. On the back of that tall man you could notice something large, perhaps a handle of zanbato that was visible above the man's shoulder.

The smaller one was blonde, girlish, but in a reality, a man. He was smiling, at no one and nothing in particular.

Oh, and both of them were wearing black cloaks with red clouds.

None of his bodyguards acted like they've noticed.

And then, the advancing shinobi were close enough for Shirushi to see their faces.

Their gazes met, and at first, the pair did not pay him attention. But of course. He looked like a girl. A girl from the Yamanaka clan. Blonde, in company of a Konoha jounin and blonde mum, that looked like she belonged in the clan as well. Then, after a double take, Kisame focused on Shirushi's face.

_They crouched on the water surface together, both grinning from ear to ear. Kisame made sure his creation was perfect. As perfectly blue as he was, and just as dangerous. But this time, he also made sure to add a trait of playfulness. Shiru was eagerly petting the shark that resided in the water. It was not the centre of the lake, but they weren't close to the shore too. Itachi was some hundred feet away, fishing. In that distance Kisame and Shiru would not disturb the prey with the noise they were making._

_Itachi was an expert, having a blade of any type, and a wire, he could hunt anything. And he did not emit enormous amount of chakra like Kisame did, so hunting was quick and easy. That day the blue skinned man wanted to prove that he was 'cool' too. Itachi got enough of praise for teaching their charge about clones and tactics. It was time the brat learned that kenjutsu wasn't all Kisame was skilled at. He could use impressive jutsu too. And sharks, that acted so alive and friendly, was a perfect example. The awe Shirushi expressed that day boosted Kisame's ego so much that he did not mind showing some of his secret techniques later. And dinner was a loud affair that night, filled with surrealistic tales and adventures of Kisame's life. Even Itachi was in awe of his partners imagination..._

When Deidara looked at the passing trio, and paid attention to the girl, he did not express surprise. He continued to smile. Even meaningfully.

_No matter how small Deidara was, he was tall in comparison to Sasori and young Shirushi. He seemed even bigger when he shielded the younger blond from the red head._

_"I won't let you destroy his impressionable mind with your perverted view of art! He has nothing to learn from corpses you call puppets! Better be an expert of explosion, it's all masculine and ninja oriented!" He shouted, words echoing through the corridor the stood in. The boy was blinking between the two members, as he stood behind his self appointed, second older brother._

_"Unfortunately, he's not interested in puppetry at all, no matter how hard I try to point out the art is useful. I let him watch my work on seals in my study. That is all. Are your protective tendencies satisfied for the moment, you imbecile?" the monotone voice of Sasori did not echo, surprisingly, but was well heard._

_"I am not an imbecile for being a good older brother. You are not a good example for him!" Deidara continued, almost seriously._

_"And Itachi-san, Kisame-san, Zetsu-san and Kakuzu-san are?" The red head countered._

_That left Deidara speechless. He pointed at Sasori but his mouth just opened and closed, making no sound..._

And just like that, in two heart beats, the cloaked duo walked past them.

It was hard to stop his head form turning and following the pair with his gaze, so he settled on staring at the corner of his vision that the pair occupied a moment ago and wondered why he felt disappointed. He wanted to fool himself that a minute later Kisame and Deidara would be back for confrontation, but knew that fooling himself was pointless. It's not like they did not care, he could even be the main reason they found themselves in Fire country. But they did not stop, did not attack, as if they did not see him there. Umino shifted and Shiru looked in his direction, finally tearing his eyes away from the empty corner. The jounin took a thin book out of his hip pouch. No, not the orange one Hatake kept around, it was an unfamiliar one.

"the tall one is definitely Hoshigaki." Umino started, opening the page with Kisame's image. He checked several other pages that had descriptions of all suspected and possible Akatsuki members before stopping on another image, and continued, "the blonde must be Deidara, from Rock. Both, confirmed Akatsuki members. The disguise worked, then?"

"it did not." Aloa stated, and her face became serious. It was such a sudden change from her warm constant smile that Shirushi had a twitch on his temple. The more he spent time with these two, the more he felt obvious danger that emanated from them. It was ridiculous how such kind and weak people put him on guard. And she just stopped smiling.

"They recognized Shirushi-sama right away," the woman elaborated, giving the boy a glance. "But for some reason, did not act hostile and neither approached us. Should we treat it as a good sign, master?"

At moments like these, when she did not treat Umino as authority and asked Shirushi questions directly, being much too polite for his tastes, he found that whatever dark themes existed between her and Minato's household, or Minato himself, Aloa was strangely, sincerely kind and visibly eager to become loyal to him. Taking it in stride was the only plausible thing he could do for now, so Shirushi ignored the weirdness of it,

"We were always friendly." Shirushi admitted, and entertained a thought of putting so many a good word for Akatsuki organization that they would not be threatened by Leaf. "Akatsuki is like a big family. There is a possibility they do not wish to hunt me down and hurt me." He frowned, "at least those two." He wasn't sure about Hidan, who happily killed all that was named a target, or Kakuzu, who claimed money to be his precious sibling that was meant to be kept close and well cared for, or Zetsu, who needed one word to come and take him back, but for some reason had not received that order yet.

"That might be true, but we cannot ignore the possibility of them coming back, or approaching as a larger group." The jounin thought aloud and placed the bingo book back. "We shall protect you either way, Naruto-kun."

Shirushi grimaced at the use of that name and it did not go unnoticed by Aloa, who glared at the Academy director.

He glared right back.

Lightning passed between their eyes, right over the boy who looked up to observe it. He imagined it there, after all. The trip promised to be full of argument.

Like a small, dysfunctional family.

He missed Akatsuki.

* * *

Against his will he found his gaze drifting up, despite there being no change from what happened hours ago. But the picture was unusual, putting it lightly, and he wasn't the only one to find himself agape at the sight. He even wished to be there, at the moment, if only to be closer to the man he admired, and listen to the secrets of the highest level possible.

But he was not invited. No one was. The party consisted of two people and it probably would stay that way. Not that it stopped people from dreaming.

Laughter could be heard. From up there.

Tsunade had cheeks flushed so dark you could see it from that distance, even. If he didn't know she was at least twice her companion's age he'd say they were hitting on each other and having quite a time.

Minato was almost as red, but it could be contributed to the cup of sake in his hand, and empty bottles behind him. Tsunade had a bottle in hand, not bothering with using a cup, and had twice the amount of bottles behind her. They clanked all the time but did not fall off. Oh, and the pair was having a party on top of Katsuyu. You know, the slug. A wide, slimy trail followed in her wake as she slithered down the road, with a pair of drunkards riding on her back.

And Tenten was walking by his side, stars in her eyes as she watched her idol get drunk.

And Lee was all 'yahoo' and 'yippee' as he held onto Katsuyu's antennas while those shrank and elongated, giving the boy the ride of his life.

Kakashi-sensei read an orange book as usual, ignoring the line of angry kunoichi behind him. If looks could kill, the masked man would be dead thousand times over.

Team Kurenai, team Asuma, and two other he did not recognize were right behind them. Katsuyu with the Yondaime and Tsunade in the lead. All of them were on the path to Sand village, where, surprise, genin would participate in chuunin exams. And he walked forward feeling a heavy cloud settle over his head, his guts telling him that trouble laid ahead. Why did the Kage and kage-level kunoichi decide to have a drinking contest in the middle of the trip? They should encourage proper ninja behaviour, not this.

"Relax, Neji-kun. It is no time for brooding!" Kakashi-sensei clapped him on the back, hard. He stumbled and barely corrected himself, before he fell on his face and made a spectacle.

"Well then," he bit out, "what this time is for?"

"Just enjoy. Think of your road of life. Prepare for the storm that's coming. Gather your wits. You know the tasks are not going to be easy." The tone was on the border of mocking, no note of sincerity at all.

"We're good enough to pull through and survive. That's what you expected anyway." Neji answered with eyes closed, knowing that he nailed it.

"Maa, maa, I signed you up because you're perfectly ready. Besides, if you win your sensei is going to become rich, so make sure you don't disappoint me!" Kakashi eye-smiled, an evil aura spreading around him.

Unfazed, Neji replied. "If we win you better share your gold, because if I hear no for an answer, we lose deliberately." His grin was just as evil. A drop of sweat appeared by Kakashi's eye-smile.

At that moment a noise of glass breaking dissipated the tension and they slowly turned their heads. Minato and Tsunade were wrestling on the crumpled carpet on top of the summon; their strength obvious in the way Katsuyu swayed. It didn't look like they had a row. Minato was keeping Tsunade away from the bottle that could be the last in their contest. Suddenly the woman pushed the blond onto the little mountain of glass he gathered behind him, and empty bottles rolled off the slug, fell on the ground and loudly shattered.

The group of travellers below flinched and cringed.

It was awfully quiet down here, with people embarrassed by their idols' behaviour. Only Lee was oblivious to the world around and continued with the 'yahoo' and 'yippee'-ness that now sounded morbid. The group went quiet even more and cringed with every exclamation. Neji didn't want to admit that he still found his teammates weird and dangerous, so he pretended not to be bothered while other ninja admired his stone face. When one is forced to work with the weirdest bunch in Konoha, it either makes that person as weird as them, or forms a blockade unlike any other.

Kakashi admired that about Neji as well. An ability to accept the world and not lose his own self in the process. Even when faced with the son of the Fourth, Neji let only awkwardness form in between them, avoiding inevitable conflict that was meant to arise. Preparing for it, actually. It was a very mature trait, that did not rub off on his teammates. They chose Kakashi as their example and became obsessed with their peculiarities even more. That couldn't be a bad thing, though. Kakashi's love for romance and porno never made him any weaker nor worse than other shinobi. Surely Tenten's tendency to hit everything that moves could not turn into bad habit?

Lee might be a bit lost on the road of five taijutsu styles but it would lead him to adventurous future, right? And why there was no Jiraiya nearby to confirm it? Ah, he stayed in Konoha to keep it protected and running. The man lost some bet to Tsunade and as a result replaces the Hokage, and the best medic in the world has fun while travelling to Suna. Now that he thought about it, someone once told him, that when Senju Tsunade wins the bet it is a sure sign of coming trouble. Looking up though, Kakashi didn't see her worried and squirming. She was rather flushed and adorably drunk...

What a pity that Umino went by different route. That jounin was so easy to tease. Especially when he got tipsy. A bit risky, Kakashi thought, to let Naruto go with two ninja while he could be protected better by the squad that gathered here. But as Minato pointed out, they were a bait and signatures of Aloa and Naruto were resembling civilians.

The chance of enemy finding them was low. Though the idea of keeping the boy close to him to the point of getting him to another country was a bit much, in could be easier if he stayed in leaf, with Jiraiya. But on the other hand, Jiraiya could not be trusted with the boy. He would either corrupt him or cage him. Even the best writer in the world was confused about how to treat Naruto. One minute he saw all the traits of young Minato, and the next all the bad habits of bloodthirsty criminals. Was it even a good idea to let a 'young and bloodthirsty Minato' into the Sand village?

Well, at least it was a move that nobody would have expected.

* * *

**A. N.** Aren't you happy i'm alive?

no, this story is not up for adoption, check my profile for others, as well as challenges if you're determined.

i don't know when the next update is.

do my job for me if you have objections.

have fun when it's given.

pray for me to have ability to give you more.

aren't you happy i'm alive at all?


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